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UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORMIA
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NOT TO BE TAKEN FROM THE ROOM

THE LIBRARY

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

LOS ANGELES

GIFT

Oriental Aeries

JAPAN AND CHINA

AUTHOR'S EDITION

Limited to One Thousand Numbered and Registered
Copies, of which this is

NUMBER ..££JL7..

A CORNER IN A JAPANESE GARDEN.

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JAPAN

Its History Arts and Literature

CAPTAIN F. BRINKLEY

VOLUME VII
PICTORIAL AND APPLIED ART

ILLUSTRATED

J. B. MILLET COMPANY
BOSTON AND TOKYO

Entered at Stationers' Hall, London, England

£77

CONTENTS

Page

CHAPTER I
JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART i

CHAPTER II
JAPANESE APPLIED ART 69

CHAPTER III
JAPANESE APPLIED ART (Continued) 106

CHAPTER IV
BRONZE-CASTING, ARCHITECTURAL SCULPTURE AND

DECORATION, ETC 135

CHAPTER V
VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART 162

CHAPTER VI
SCULPTURE ON SWORD-FURNITURE 205

CHAPTER VII
SCULPTURE ON SWORD-FURNITURE (Continued) . . . 249

CHAPTER VIII
SCULPTURE ON SWORD-FURNITURE (Continued) . . . 295

CHAPTER IX
SPECIAL SUBJECTS 312

APPENDIX 367

INDEX , 379

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

A Corner of a Japanese Garden Frontispiece

The Goddess of Fortune (Benzaiten) 8

Figures of Samurai 16

Rihaku Looking at a Waterfall 24

Heron 32

Group of Monkeys 36

Moonlight on the Snow 40

Quail and Rice 44

Flower Study 48

Sunrise on the Seashore 52

Carp in Stream 56

Landscape in Semi-Japanese Style 60

Modern Semi-Japanese School 64

Wooden Statue of the Deity of Art 72

Wooden Statue of Manjusri 88

Bronze Statue of the Moon Deva (Gekko) .... 96

Clay Figures 112

Wooden Statue of Vimala-Kirti I2O

Bronze Gong 128

Statue (One of the Deva Kings) 144

Image (One of the Twelve Devas) 160

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

One of the Deva Kings Guarding the Gate at the Temple

Todai-ji 176

Eleven-faced Kwannon in Shrine; Fourteenth Century . 192

Netsuke 208

Wooden Brackets . 224

Modern Ivory Statuettes . 240

Ivory Inro 264

Menuki . . . Knife Handles . . . Rings and Tips . 280

Sword Guards. Plate 1 304

Sword Guards. Plate II 320

VII

JAPAN

Chapter I

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

JAPAN'S victorious war with the neighbouring
Empire in 1894-1895 showed the world that she
was something more than a kind of pretty toy
country, where the trivial tourist might enjoy
the sight of people using paper pocket-handkerchiefs,
feeding themselves with two sticks instead of a knife
and fork, and living in houses without windows ; and
where the dilettante might find art treasures as charm-
ing as they were novel. Up to the eve of that war,
the average European or American bestowed upon
her no more attention than he accorded to some new
phenomenon in the world of physics. A sentiment
of curiosity, perhaps academical, perhaps ethnographi-
cal, but certainly languid, was awakened in his breast
by the intelligence that an Oriental nation had under-
taken not merely to discard its Oriental garments, but
also to prove that they had always been a misfit.
He watched the result much as he would have
watched the experiments of a horticulturist seeking

VOL. VII.

JAPAN

to make peonies blow on a briar stem. In the field
of art, however, his estimate of her capacities was
different. He could not hide from himself that the
revival of decorative art in Europe had been stimulated
and guided by the study of first-class Japanese work,
and that types of the highest aesthetic quality were to
be found among Japanese chefs aauvre.

But what, after all, was Japanese art ? Must it be
regarded as simply decorative, or might it also be con-
sidered representative ? That question pressed for an
answer. People were unwilling to admit that a new
star of the first magnitude had really risen on the
horizon. They found something slight, something
trivial, in Japanese pictures ; a lack of emotion-inspir-
ing motive ; an absence of massiveness and breadth of
treatment. It could easily be detected that the range
of the painter's fancy was limited by a logical canon ;
that he forbade himself to transfer to his canvas any
scene too extensive to be revealed by a single glance
of the eye ; that, in short, just as Japanese poetry never
rose to the dignity of an ode but stopped short at a
couplet, so Japanese pictures, instead of telling a com-
plete story, merely suggested an incident. But that
they displayed remarkable directness of method and
strength of line; that the artist knew exactly what he
wanted to draw and drew it with unerring fidelity and
force ; that the very outlines of the picture were in
themselves a picture, and that the whole was pervaded
by an atmosphere of tenderness and grace indicating a
refined conception of everything beautiful in nature, —
these were facts that forced themselves upon the at-
tention of every close observer.

What, then, was the fundamental difference between
this art and the art of the Occident ? It seems a little

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

strange that the question should have remained un-
answered for any length of time, inasmuch as a visit
to a Japanese dwelling should have immediately sug-
gested the reply. A Japanese picture is not painted
simply for the sake of representative effect ; it is part
of a decorative scheme. There is no such thing in
Japan as a picture gallery — a place whither people re-
pair to look at pictures merely for the sake of pictures.
The painter, so far as the ultimate uses of his work
were concerned, ranked with the joiner, the plasterer,
and the paper-hanger. His object was to beautify
some part of the domestic interior. Originally the
scope of his art was chiefly religious, but from the
fifteenth century he may be said to have had three fields
for the exercise of his genius : first, screens — from the
broad-faced tsuitate that stood in the vestibule, with
its boldly limned design such as a passing glance could
appreciate, to the little two-leaved biyobu that formed
an elbow of glowing tints and delicate fancies to em-
brace the pillow of the lady of the household ;
second, the panels of the sliding doors that separated
rooms, or gave access to cupboards and quaintly con-
trived nooks ; and, third, the alcove recess, where a
hanging picture occupied the background with a cen-
ser, supported on a stand, in the middle distance, and a
flower vase and an o kimono l balancing each other in the
foreground. Screens and door-panels, whatever their
position or use, do not rise above the rank of articles
of furniture : the designs applied to them must be
purely decorative. But a picture hanging in an alcove
seems at first sight to occupy a higher place and to
offer a worthier opportunity for the display of repre-
sentative art. In the Japanese system, however, the

1 See Appendix, note I.

JAPAN

alcove picture was primarily an alcove ornament. It
had to take its place in a decorative scheme ; had to
harmonise with, not to eclipse, its surroundings ; to
accompany them, not to stand apart from them. The
European or American hangs his pictures with re-
gard simply to the wall space at his disposal and
the direction of his lights. The picture is the sole
object of his consideration ; everything is sacrificed
to it. He builds a special gallery for the exhibition of
these treasures, if he is so fortunate as to possess a suffi-
cient number, and he takes care that nothing in the
gallery shall clash with its prime purpose, the dis-
play of the paintings. But a Japanese never shows
more than one picture, or one set of pictures, at a
time. If he has a large collection, he keeps them in
his fire-proof storeroom, and gives to each in turn a
temporary place in the alcove recess. Hanging there,
a picture must satisfy the same canon as the objects
associated with it : the eye must find equal pleasure in
regarding it from every part of the room. Thus it is
at once radically differentiated from the picture of
Occidental art, the picture which must be seen from
one special point of view and with light coming from
one fixed direction.

Thus, also, linear perspective and cast shadows are
necessarily excluded. Vanishing points, horizon lines,
and such things mean that only one aspect of a pic-
ture is delightful ; every other, painful. The Jap-
anese artist perceived these things intuitively. It has
been said of him reproachfully that he remained per-
petually ignorant of perspective, and that he never
discovered the theory of shadows. Certainly it is
true that his knowledge of linear perspective con-
tinued to be very imperfect until modern times ; but

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

it is also true that he always had a full understanding
of aerial perspective ; and if it were possible to imagine
for a moment that the presence of cast shadows
escaped the observation of one so deeply versed in
every other detail of nature's portraiture, the delusion
would at once be dispelled by examining his repre-
sentations of fishes, where each scale is accompanied
by its due shadow, and of foliage where leaves and
branches occupy their proper places in an accurate
scheme of light and shade. But the fact is that he
never allowed his artistic fancy to obscure the logic of
his purpose. His prime function was to ornament a
flat surface, and he recognised that scenes demanding
the realistic effects produced by relief and differences
of plane are entirely discordant with such a function.
He considered that his picture, whether it represented
landscape, seascape, figures, flowers, birds, or what not,
was intended to produce, not an illusion, but a har-
mony. Very seldom did he make the mistake of
pasting what people of the Occident call " pic-
tures " upon walls, screens, doors, or ceilings. Aerial
perspective and foreshortening were permissible, and
he used them with admirable skill : linear perspective
and cast shadows he carefully eschewed.

It is easy to conceive that a tendency to what the
West calls "suggestion" would be developed by such
conditions. A temple j would be represented by the
tor ii that spans its avenue of approach ; a town, by
two or three roof-ridges emerging from mist ; a tree,
by one bough ; a river, by a sinuous stroke ; the sea,
by the curves of a few wave-crests. Some have said
of Japanese art that it is essentially impressionist.
That is true, with the limitation that the impres-
sions produced are those of facts, not of fancies ;

JAPAN

of realities, not of ideas. Appreciation depends on
education. Occidentals have learned to esteem paint-
ing for the sake of its beauty independently of its
environment ; the Japanese esteems it for its beauty
in subordination to its environment. As to which
is the greater effort of art, need there be any discus-
sion ? The purpose of the artist in each case is
radically different. When he steps out of the com-
paratively narrow limits imposed by decorative
canons ; when, by the aid of cast shadows, perspec-
tive, and a delicate gradation of " values," he shows
his public not merely an exquisite scene from nature,
but also the poetical aspects that it presents to his
own refined imagination, is not the spectator in the
presence of one of the greatest achievements of
genius, one of the noblest results of intellectual de-
velopment ? Still the merits of the decorative system
also must be recognised ; above all, such a system as
the Japanese elaborated by centuries upon centuries
of subtle effort. The " picture " obliges its viewer
to isolate himself from his surroundings ; to gaze
through an open window without any consciousness
of the room in which he is standing. The decorative
painting invites him to view it as part of a whole,
and to value it in proportion as it enhances its en-
vironment. Japanese art may be said to end where
European art begins, — that is to say, European art
subsequent to the sixteenth century.

This broad difference recognised, it is found that
the Japanese artist accepted every suggestion offered
by nature within the limits of its adaptability. His
observation was extraordinarily keen, perhaps because
he never assisted it artificially. He knew nothing of
animate models. It would have appeared quite irra-

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

tional in his eyes to take a drawing of a danseuse from
a posed girl, or to gather the idea of a bird in flight
from a stuffed specimen with extended wings. " Ob-
jects at rest can never seem to be in motion," would
have been his thought, " however their limbs be
disposed or their muscles stretched." Therefore he
painted moving objects according to his impression
of the appearance they presented when in motion,
and it was such a correct impression that his birds
seemed to be flying out of the canvas, his dancers
moving across the field of vision. In that feature of
his art he found few equals and no superiors. The
nude had no place in his repertoire of subjects. To
hang a drawing of an undraped female in an alcove
would have been judged as intolerable a violation of
propriety as though a host should discard his clothes
to receive a visitor. How much the Japanese lost,
how much they gained, by excluding such subjects
from their pictorial art, need not be discussed here.
But reference may be made to the fact that the question
is now actively agitating public opinion. Two or
three painters, disciples of the Occidental School,
have invited a conclusive decision by exhibiting pic-
tures of the nude, and the nation hesitates whether
to welcome or to taboo the innovation. It must be
confessed that the challenge has been very rudely is-
sued. The paintings upon which judgment is to be
based have hitherto been entirely without the atmos-
phere of refinement and idealism which alone can veil
the gross features of such representations. Were the
circumstances ever so favourable, however, it is prob-
able that more than one generation must come and
go before Japanese taste can be even partially recon-
ciled to pictures of the nude. At all events, there has

JAPAN

been nothing of the kind as yet in the country's art.
It is an easily understood corollary that anatomical
studies never occupied the artist's attention. That
defect in his education often forces itself painfully
upon observation, especially in his delineation of hands
and feet. Perhaps for the same reason he fails sig-
nally in his attempt to draw animals, — horses, oxen,
foxes, tigers, elephants, wolves, dogs, and so forth.
Strange that the accuracy of his observation, conspicu-
ous in other things, should be so markedly defective
in this field. He can limn a fish, a bird, an insect, or
even a fluffy little puppy-dog to perfection, but when
he has to trace outlines that depend for their correct-
ness on knowledge of the bony and muscular structures
beneath, he errs perpetually. Directness of method
and power of line are among his chief merits. As
to the latter quality, its genesis may be attributed to
the use of the ideographic script. The training that
every Japanese child receives from a tender age in
tracing ideographs, educates a brush-using facility
which has become in some degree hereditary. It
may be laid down as axiomatic that an intimate rela-
tionship exists between Japanese calligraphy and Jap-
anese painting, and that the Japanese eye detects in
brush strokes an aesthetic beauty too subtle to appeal
to men living outside the ideographic pale. Touch,
as has been well said by a great connoisseur of Jap-
anese pictorial art, is not by any means the most
important quality in a picture, but it nevertheless
contributes largely to the flavour and vitality of an
artist's work. When a Japanese speaks of " power
of pen " (hitsu-riyokit), there presents itself to his mind
a combination of delicate grace, infallible accuracy,
and unostentatious verve which every intelligent ob-

.(M3TI
?fw sriJ gn:rj!oJ bnei!

Q(K)O 21IIT

•nsri irfgii isH

Fainting, eighth century, by unknown artist.

THE GODDESS OF FORTUNE (BENZAITEN).

Her right hand shown in the distorted shape called abhayanda ; her left hand holding the wishing Jewel.

From the Temple of Yakushi-ji. (See page 26 J

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

server is expected to recognise. He himself, if he
has any pretensions to be a connoisseur, is familiar
with sixteen different styles of touch for painting
scenery, thirty-six for painting foliage, and nineteen
for painting drapery, which constitute the classics of
the brush, each having its own distinctive name
and clearly established characteristics. To Western
intelligence these facts suggest mannerism and for-
malism. Such analytical elaboration seems incongru >
ous with the spirit of true art. Yet tricks of brush-
manipulation are not allowed to impair the expression
of the pictorial motive in Japan. These peculiar
strokes, when traced by the hand of a master, do not
obtrude themselves at the expense of congruity.
They may, of course, be exaggerated so as to become
startlingly obtrusive. Hokusai's work often shows
that fault. His use of the "swift-wave," otherwise
called the " holly-leaf," style in drawing drapery
sometimes degenerates into an impertinent man-
nerism, whereas outlines of the same class appear
natural and appropriate when traced by the brush of
Utanosuke or Shiutoku. But the point to which at-
tention may be directed is not the merits or defects
of such styles for pictorial purposes so much as the
fact of their accurate differentiation and faithful em-
ployment by Japanese experts. The observer is thus
carried into a field practically unexplored by Euro-
pean and American artists who associate with the best
line drawing no qualities other than strength, deli-
cacy, and directness.

Passing from the calligraphic training of the hand
to the hand itself, it is seen that nature has endowed
the Japanese people with hands singularly supple and
sensitive. Manual dexterity ought to characterise

JAPAN

such a nation. Thus, if they are found wielding the
artist's brush with admirable strength and accuracy,
one may look also to find them revelling in micro-
scopic elaboration of detail ; if at one time they
suggest a whole repertoire of facts by a few bold
touches, at another they may be expected to lavish a
whole mine of minutiae upon the working out of a
few facts. And so indeed it is. Side by side with
sketches which astonish by the suggestive wealth of
half-a-dozen salient brush-strokes, pictures are seen
which almost eclipse the illuminated missals of me-
diaeval times, so conscientious is their detail, so profuse
their elaboration. What perplexes many students,
too, is that the same brush dashes out at one moment
a design of colossal boldness, and devotes itself, the
next, to work of marvellous detail. By way of illus-
tration, reference may be made to Nobuzane and
Hokusai, names very familiar to Western connoisseurs.
If the average Japanese dilettante be asked to describe
Nobuzane's characteristics, he will reply, delicacy of
touch, illimitable minutiae of detail, and exquisite
harmony of tints. Yet it is a fact established beyond
query that the genuine works of Nobuzane show him
to have been a master possessing noble vigour, and
place him incomparably above the illuminator of a
missal or the painter of a peacock's tail. So, too, if
the average American or European collector had to
define Hokusai's style, he would speak of bold out-
lines, of wonderfully realistic figures, and of a wealth
of humorous conception. Yet there exist pictures by
Hokusai which rank with the finest etching in the
matter of minutiae, and with the most delicate en-
graving in the matter of mechanical accuracy of line.
It is scarcely possible to conceive that the laborious

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

limner of such works can be identical with the daring
artist of the Man-gwa (ten thousand sketches) or the
poetical painter of the Hundred Views of Fujiyama.
Some may say, perhaps, that the Japanese hand is a
product of the ideograph ; that the manipulation of
the brush through long centuries has modified the
shape of the fingers and caused a special adjustment
of muscles. That is a question beyond the range of
art discussion. It has concern for those that advocate
the displacement of the ideographic script by the
Roman alphabet, but here it will suffice to notice the
three factors that belong to this context, factors which
must be recognised by every one desiring to appreciate
Japanese art, namely, a hand singularly supple and
sensitive, a brush manipulated with skill and strength
beyond any Occidental standard, and a hereditary
perception of quality in touch with which only an
ideographist can fully sympathise.

The brush (fude} itself is not an ideal contrivance
for artistic purposes. It is a stiff-haired pencil which,
in ordinary hands, presents a difficulty to be overcome
rather than a helpful instrument. This comment may
be appropriately extended to the general question of
the Japanese artist's materials. It is said that unless
one has actually worked with those materials, the
difficulty of manipulating them cannot be realised.
The rapidly absorptive quality of the paper, as pre-
pared for use, necessitates damping of the whole sur-
face in order to apply a wash, and, of course, after
the damping process has been repeated three or four
times, the sizing of the paper perishes, or the prepa-
ration of the silk disappears, if silk is employed.
Moreover, the colour first applied is assimilated so
largely that unless it be opaque there is little possi-

1 1

J A PAN

bility of working over it even when dry : it seems to
swallow up all shades which are not very much darker
than itself. Practically, therefore, one wash is the
limit. On the dry paper, too, the work has to be done
quickly and with sweeping, finished strokes ; if the
brush leaves the paper, there is a hard line without
recourse. Correction is practically impossible, and the
result of every brushful of colour must, therefore, be
foreseen to a nicety. On the other hand, the paper
and silk — especially the latter — of the Japanese
artist repay these technical difficulties by the delicate
softness that they impart to a colour, and, in the case
of silk, exceptional effects are produced by applying
the pigments at the back of the drawing so that they
show through the material.

There is another feature of Japanese pictorial art
which, though apparently little appreciated by West-
ern connoisseurs, must really be regarded as funda-
mental. It is that the position of the painter with
regard to his picture influences the whole character
of his line work. Instead of standing upright before
his easel so that the axis of his lines is either on the
mahl-stick or at his shoulder, he kneels on the floor
with his paper or silk beneath him so that the axis
of his sweep is the lower part of the leg, and the
whole body from the knee upward becomes the
arm with which the lines and curves are produced.
Whether this mechanical difference constitutes an
advantage or a disadvantage is a difficult question. But,
as a very astute critic has remarked, " Japanese draw-
ing so depends on its lines, its character is so wrapped
up in them, that if the lines changed their sweep and
flow, that character would be lost."

It will be easilv inferred from what has thus far

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

been written that the mannerisms of Japanese art are
numerous. The decorative limits within which it is
for the most part confined render such a result almost
inevitable. In the course of time certain tricks of
delineation have received the cachet of great masters
and been recognised as the ne plus ultra of forceful
suggestiveness. A fatal temptation to learn these
tricks without attempting to acquire the spirit that
suggested them besets the average student. It is so
comfortable, so reassuring, to know that waves, bam-
boos, clouds, flowing water, hair, rock, and a multi-
tude of other objects may be depicted by lines, curves,
and washes combined and arranged in ways capable
of being memorised as accurately as an ideograph or
a syllabary. The result is painful ease of reproduction.
The observer is lost in admiration of the directness
and facility of a Japanese artist who seats himself
among a group of onlookers and paints a dozen pic-
tures in an hour, each presenting some points of
excellence. But it may very well happen that a year
or two later the same observer is invited to attend a
seance where the same artist performs the same tour de
force by producing exactly the same pictures in the
same time. Of course this criticism applies to the
rank and file alone of the profession, — the men who,
being without originality of conception, are obliged
to substitute skill of pencil, and who find in the mere
processes of the great masters a sufficient equipment
for the purposes of every-day art. Unfortunately such
mechanists of the brush have abounded in every era.
Their skill as copyists constitutes a barrier to foreign
appreciation of true Japanese art. How many col-
lectors or connoisseurs in Europe or America have
had an opportunity of examining genuine works of

JAPAN

great Japanese painters ? How many Japanese in
Japan have had such an opportunity ? Their com-
bined number might probably be counted on the
fingers of two hands. Copies, imitations, forgeries,
they have seen in abundance, but to authenticated
originals they have had little access.

What has already been said about picture galleries
may be recalled here. In Europe and America one
can visit collections, private or public, where examples
of all the celebrated artists of France, Italy, Germany,
and so on are displayed. There is nothing of the
kind in Japan, and there never has been anything of
the kind. Japanese pictures are hidden away among
the heirlooms of temples or in the storehouses of
noblemen and wealthy merchants. They are practi-
cally inaccessible. A not uninterested or unintelligent
observer may have lived for years in Japan before the
trivial estimate he has formed of Sesshiu, of Shiubun,
of Motonobu, of Ch5 Densu, of Tanyu, or of the
other masters, is rudely disturbed some morning by a
revelation that startles him into a new belief. He
may never have that revelation at all. The chances
are a thousand to one that it never comes to a resi-
dent of a foreign settlement. Certainly some of the
European authors whom the world accepts as true
exponents of Japanese art have never been introduced
to genuine representatives of many of the historical
schools that they describe. They have utilized their
limited opportunities with diligence and ability, but
it was impossible that they could speak discerningly
of what they had not seen, or had viewed only
through copies scarcely ranking above caricatures.
In this reflection is to be found, perhaps, a sufficient
explanation of the great divergence between views

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

submitted to the public on the subject of Japanese
art. Chamberlain can scarcely conceal his contempt
for it : he finds that it " stops at the small, the petty,
the isolated, the vignette," and that the chief lesson
it has taught the world is " the charm of irregularity."
Fenollosa, on the other hand, talks of Motonobu as
" scaling the heavens and battling with Titans ;" of
" the depth and intensity which startle us like the
voices of the Gods from the mellow-toned sheets of
Shiubun, Noami, Jasoku, and Masanobu ; " of "the
draught of immortality that all late artists have sought
to drink from the well of Sesshiu's irrepressible
vigour," and of "Yeitoku, whose heart burns with
the internal fire lit from the torch of the Sung
genius." It is impossible that two men of very much
more than average intelligence can speak of the same
thing with voices so dissentient. The truth is that
their verdicts are based on different evidence.

The remarks made above with reference to the
decorative limitations of Japanese art apply with
clearer truth to secular than to religious paintings.
In the latter field work is occasionally found that does
not suggest any consideration for the plane of its dis-
play or the nature of its environment. Some of the
earliest masters are known chiefly, if not entirely, by
the pictures that they painted for Buddhist temples or
Buddhist priests, and these pictures would deservedly
rank high in any country. They show loftiness of
conception, massiveness of treatment, and vigour of
method that rival the achievements of the Italian
mediaeval celebrities. Yet they cannot be cited as
witnesses against the general theory enunciated above,
for they are without either linear perspective or cast
shadows.

JAPAN

Japanese pictorial art is permeated with Chinese
affinities. The one is indeed the child of the other,
and traces of this close relationship are nearly always
present in greater or less degree. To discern the
marks of consanguinity is, however, a difficult task at
times, not because of their actual obscurity, but be-
cause means of identification are defective. Imper-
fect as is the Occident's knowledge of Japanese
pictorial art, it compares favourably with its knowl-
edge of Chinese. Of the latter virtually nothing was
known by Western connoisseurs until they were in-
troduced to it through the medium of the former ;
for, strange as the fact may seem, fine Chinese pictures
are very much more accessible in Japan than in
China. Japan is perfectly frank in acknowledging
the debt she owes to the neighbouring empire. She
does not pretend for a moment that her own painters
have ever surpassed their models, the great masters
of the Tang, the Sung, the Yuan, and the Ming
dynasties, and she treasures the latter' s works with all
the reverent love that an Occidental virtuoso feels for
the gems of Rubens, of Angelo, of Titian, or of
Holbein. It may, indeed, be fairly claimed for the
Japanese that in some branches of painting their
modifications deserve to be regarded as efforts of
original genius, and that, speaking generally, their
work is superior to that of the Chinese in tender-
ness, grace, and, above all, humour. But, for the rest,
they sit at China's feet. Korea should also be in-
cluded among their masters, for there is evidence that
Korean influence preceded Chinese. But the earliest
really great Japanese artist — Kose no Kanaoka — is
an unalloyed product of Chinese inspiration, and
stands at the crest of a flood of Chinese influence that

.IAHUMA8 TO HHJ1UOI!
(.2£ ageq s»2) .y^uinsD rijnselxia to bn3 .tarfcteM

FIGURES OF SAMURAI.

By Iwasa Matahei. End of sixteenth century. (See page 45.)

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

inundated his country in the eighth and ninth centuries.
Two hundred years before his time (850-880 A.D.),
Buddhism had become established in Japan, and the
best efforts of her artists were soon devoted to the
service of the new faith. Thus the most ancient
painting now extant is a mural decoration in the
temple Horiu-ji, near Nara, which is believed to date
from the opening years of the seventh century, and
it may be stated at once that in no country has the
spirit of art been more closely connected with religion
than in Japan. Not merely did painting, architec-
ture, and sculpture make their entry in the train of
the Indian creed, but close study shows that the
development of the various sects may often be traced
by their influence on the artistic features of their
respective epochs. To Buddhism also are due the
Grecian affinities distinctly traceable in Japanese art,
for the conquests of Alexander brought Grecian
civilisation to northern India, whence Buddhism set
out for China, Korea, and Japan.

Concerning the history of Japanese art, the best
authorities refer its genesis to the reign of the Em-
press Suiko (563-567 A.D.), when Chinese court
fashions, literature, and etiquette were introduced,
and with them came applied art for decorating the
Buddhist temples then beginning to be built. The
accuracy of the date need not be insisted upon, for
the evidence is traditional ; but certainly the seventh
century bequeathed to posterity a few specimens
which show that the casting, and chiselling of metal,
and the manufacture of lacquer were already practised
with considerable skill; that fine examples of em-
broidery had been imported from China, if not
produced in Japan, and that painting, though still

VOL. VII.

JAPAN

crude and elementary, had made some progress. A
great deal of ingenuity and close research have been
devoted to tracing fine lines of division between the
periods of Japanese development in those early days,
but the resulting differentiation is too subtle to be
practical. The problem of real interest is to separate
foreign inspiration from native originality ; to deter-
mine whether this art, which has so greatly pleased
the world in modern times, is a mere by-product of
inspiration emanating in the first place from Greece,
and becoming more and more deflected from the line
of identity as it passed through the refracting media
of Indian, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese assimilations,
or whether any part of it may be regarded as the un-
mixed offspring of Japanese genius. With that object
in view it would certainly be helpful to trace the
record back to its very alphabet. But unfortunately
the materials are not sufficient for accurate analysis.
If the most profound students take the latter half of
the sixth century as the opening era, it is not because
they believe the preceding cycles to have been
entirely barren, but because the spread of Buddhism
at that time supplied the first elevating impulse, as
well as the first means of preserving and transmitting
the art products of the time. There is no apparent
possibility of determining, however, whether the
scanty specimens transmitted from the sixth century
and the first half of the seventh were the work of
Japanese, Chinese, or Korean hands. Not until the
end of the seventh century does solid ground present
itself, and Japan is then found in such close contact
with China that a full tide of civilisation flowed from
the latter to the shores of her neighbour, — civilisa-
tion which, so far as its artistic side is concerned, was

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

permeated with Indo-Grecian influences. The mate-
rials for study now cease to be few and apocryphal.
A very considerable number of authenticated sculp-
tures, several paintings, and a remarkably full assem-
blage of examples of applied art, illustrate the culture
of the epoch.

To this time belongs the celebrated collection pre-
served in an imperial storehouse called the Shoso-in
at Nara. Nara was the capital of Japan and the resi-
dence of the Imperial Court from 709 to 784 A.D.
During that interval the priests of Horiuji, to which
temple the Shoso-in is attached, received from the
Palace various memorial relics, so that the Shoso-in
collection ultimately comprised specimens of the
ornaments, utensils, robes, musical instruments, etc.,
used by three Emperors and three Empresses. This
collection, supplemented by temple treasures, brings
the student into intimate touch with the civilisation
of the era. He can speak of it confidently. As to
sculpture, the point of excellence to which it had
been carried is attested by several statues which form
part of the Nara temple relics. No critic can deny
to these works a high place in any scale of artistic
conception and technical skill. Tradition assigns
some of the best of them to anonymous Chinese or
Korean sculptors. But no such sculptures have hith-
erto been found in either Korea or China. Here is
presented one of the difficulties besetting every effort
to decipher the alphabet of Japanese art. Work-
ing in the service of religion, the Japanese artist
buried his individuality in his purpose ; and, on the
other hand, since Korea originally transmitted Bud-
dhism to Japan, and China, during several centuries,
remained the sole source of its exegesis, the priests

JAPAN

and propagandists of the faith were naturally disposed
to claim the cachet of Korean and Chinese artists for
the decoration and equipment of sacred edifices. The
artist effaced himself; his employers ignored him, and
posterity was probably betrayed into the error of at-
tributing to foreign masters much that Japan had a
just title to call her own. The tendency of modern
research is to throw doubt upon the foreign prove-
nance of several important works hitherto attributed to
Chinese or Korean artists. Men that could conceive
and construct the colossal bronze figure of Lochana
Buddha at Nara, and the numerous images preserved
in the temple there, cannot have experienced much
necessity to employ Chinese or Korean hands. Nev-
ertheless, though the glyptic art, the lacquerer's art,
and the inlayer's art unquestionably attained a high
stage of development in this epoch, the pictorial art
remained in a secondary place and a careful examina-
tion of the Shoso-in collection shows that even in the
field of decorative art the features which constitute
the chief charm, as well as the specialty, of Japanese
genius in later ages had not yet been evolved. With-
out exception the decoration seen in the Shoso-in
specimens is geometrically distributed. There is no
evidence that the Japanese had yet begun to fathom
the secret of natural proportion, or to study the lesson
they afterwards acquired so perfectly, namely, that to
conceal, while preserving, the geometrical relations
of part to part, to obtain equilibrium while apparently
despising equipoise, is the fundamental axiom of
graceful symmetry. But as sculptors they unquestion-
ably stand at the head of Far-Eastern artists, and al-
though the degree of their supremacy varied from
age to age, the fact could never be questioned. What

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

has been said above of painting applies with equal
truth to sculpture. In both alike the impress of
Japanese genius shows itself chiefly in tenderness,
grace, and, above all, humour. It is doubtful whether
the Japanese pictorial artist ever scaled the heights on
which the greatest of the Chinese masters stood. It
is virtually certain that the converse is true in the case
of sculpture. But these are mere differences of
degree. Not until the characteristics of humour,
tenderness, and grace are considered does the distinc-
tion become radical.

A few words may be said here about Chinese art,
since it occupies such an important place in the vista
of the retrospect. While accepting the indisputable
truth that the art of Japan in its greatest phases is but
a reflection of the art of China — a reflection fre-
quently vying with its original in vigour and vitality,
but more frequently displaying the weaknesses inci-
dental to imitations in general — it is necessary to
avoid the inference that the native genius of the
Chinese artist was wholly responsible for his successes.
The fact is that in both countries pictorial art drew
its best inspiration from the same fount, Buddhism,
and in both derived some of its most striking techni-
cal features from the same source, calligraphy. The
Chinese doubtless had pictures long before the days
of Apelles and Zeuxis, but their artists failed to attract
any national attention until Buddhism, coming in the
third century of the Christian era, brought to them
Grasco-Indian suggestions which soon raised to the dig-
nity of an art what had hitherto been nothing more than
a branch of calligraphy. By a slow process of evolu-
tion this reformed art gradually attained, in the eighth
century, a culminating point at which stands the figure

JAPAN

of Wu Tao-tsz.1 Speaking broadly, the painters of
his epoch — the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) — are
believed to be the most powerful and original their
country has produced, but it is difficult to determine
how much that verdict owes to Oriental reverence for
the antique. If the works of Wu Tao-tsz, Wong
Wei (Japanese O-i), and Han Kan (Japanese Kan-
Kan) served as splendid models to the first Japanese
painters of note, — Kose no Kanaoka and his imme-
diate successors, — the pictures of the Sung (960-1 205
A.D.) masters 2 were even more esteemed and copied
by subsequent Japanese artists, and continuously in
later eras 3 the influence of the various Chinese schools
made itself felt in the neighbouring empire. Turning
to the general characteristics of the art, the first point
to be noted is that strength, directness, decision,
and delicacy of stroke ranked above all other quali-
ties. Outlines were frequently traced, the fact that
they do not exist in nature being deliberately ig-
nored. Doubtless for the same reason, accuracy of
drawing was often sacrificed to conventionalised beau-
ties of curve and contour, and nature's effects were
translated into the language of decorative manner-
isms. Linear perspective was either absent altogether
or present in a form that violated European canons.
Cast shadows did not appear. Colours were used
very sparingly in the earlier eras, the best works
being in black and white, pure monochrome, or
pale tints relieved by an occasional touch of brighter
hue. No subject was too trivial for representation,
but if pictures were often produced which, so far as
concerns the objects depicted, would rank only as

1 See Appendix, note 2. a See Appendix, note 3.

8 See Appendix, note 4.

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

studies in the Occident, their narrowness of range
was redeemed by remarkable subtlety of suggestion,
and in the case of landscapes there was a really noble
power of representing space and atmosphere. These
remarks apply to secular rather than to religious paint-
ings. In the latter, figure subjects predominate, and
are treated not only with grandeur of conception but
sometimes also with gorgeous wealth of decorative
detail. The religious pictures of China and Japan
are scarcely distinguishable. That is not strange
when the identity of their motives and calligraphic
methods is remembered, as well as the fact that in
early days the Middle Kingdom stood towards the
island empire in nearly the same relation as that oc-
cupied by Italy towards western Europe in mediaeval
and modern times. China was the bourne of the
Japanese art student as well as of the Japanese littera-
teur, and to have sat at the feet of the Tang, Sung, or
Yuan masters or philosophers was counted the high-
est possible education, whether aesthetic or scholastic.
Representing the same subjects and inspired by the
same devotional instincts, the Buddhist paintings of
the two countries might well resemble each other to
the point of identity. But it is strange to find
among the secular works of Chinese artists exact
prototypes of drawings that hang in the alcoves of
thousands of Japanese houses, or form the decorative
bases of innumerable Japanese objects of virtu. The
perched hawks and roosting pigeons of Hwei Tsung ;
the swooping cranes and curling waves of Mih Yuen-
chang ; the beetling cliffs, dashing waterfalls, and
rugged trees of Wu Tao-tsz ; the ferocious dragons
of Ch'en So-ung ; the marvellously bold and vital
sketches of Muh Ki, herons flying from the silk and

JAPAN

boughs waving on the paper ; the vivid, crisp figure-
subjects and the exquisitely delicate suggestions of
still life and landscape by Li Lung-yen ; the bamboos
of Yuh Kien, every leaf drinking the sunny air and
every spray instinct with lustiness ; the eager, timid
wild-fowl and wood-birds of Wan Chin and Wang
Lieh-pan ; the tender glimpses of scenic gems by
Liu Liang and Lu Ki, like choice stanzas from a
great poem — these and many another graceful
conception, delineated with such fidelity to the first
canon of art that a maximum of effect is produced
with a minimum of visible effort, reveal the gallery
where Japanese painters found their inspiration from
century to century. Nothing has ever been written
that sums up more happily and justly the facts now
under discussion than the following extract from
the work of that most accurate and discriminating
student of Far-Eastern pictorial art, the late Dr.
William Anderson : —

There is, perhaps, no section of art that has been so com-
pletely misapprehended in Europe as the pictorial art of
China. For us the Chinese painter, past or present, is but
a copyist who imitates with laborious and undiscriminating
exactness whatever is laid before him, rejoices in the display
of as many and as brilliant colours as his subject and remu-
neration will permit, and is original only in the creation of
monstrosities. Nothing could be more contrary to the fact
than this impression, if we omit from consideration the work
executed for the foreign market, — work which every educated
Chinese would disown. The old masters of the Middle
Kingdom, who, as a body, united grandeur of conception
with immense power of execution, cared little for elabo-
ration of detail, and, except in Buddhist pictures, sought
their best efforts in the simplicity of black and white, or in
the most subdued of chromatic harmonies. Their art was

.JJA1H3TAW A TA OWOOOJ UXAHIfl

.udonesfiM YB

RIHAKU LOOKING AT A WATERFALL.

By Masanobu.

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

defective, but not more so than that of Europe down to the
end of the thirteenth century. Technically they did not go
beyond the use of water colours, but in range and quality of
pigments, in mechanical command of pencil, they had no
reasons to fear comparison with their contemporaries. They
had caught only a glimpse of the laws of chiaroscuro and
perspective, but the want of science was counterpoised by
more essential elements of artistic excellence. In motives
they lacked neither variety nor elevation. As landscape
painters they anticipated their European brethren by over a
score of generations, and created transcripts of scenery that
for breadth, atmosphere, and picturesque beauty can scarcely
be surpassed. In their studies of the human figure, although
their work was often rich in vigour and expression, they
certainly fell immeasurably below the Greeks; but to counter-
balance this defect no other artists, except those of Japan,
have ever infused into the delineations of bird life one tithe
of the vitality and action to be seen in the Chinese portrait-
ures of the crow, the sparrow, the crane, and a hundred
other varieties of the feathered race. In flowers the Chinese
were less successful, owing to the absence of true chiaro-
scuro, but they were able to evolve a better picture out of a
single spray of blossom than many a Western painter from
all the treasures of a conservatory. If we endeavour to
compare the pictorial art of China with that of Europe, we
must carry ourselves back to the days when the former was
in its greatness. Of the art that preceded the Tang dynasty
we can say nothing. Like that of Polygnotus, Zeuxis, and
Apelles, it is now represented only by traditions, which, if
less precise in the former than in the latter case, are not less
laudatory ; but it may be asserted that nothing produced by
the painters of Europe between the seventh and thirteenth
centuries of the Christian era approaches within any measur-
able distance of the works of the great Chinese masters who
gave lustre to the Tang, Sung, and Yuan dynasties, nor —
to draw a little nearer to modern times — is there anything
in the religious art of Cimabue that would not appear tame
and graceless by the side of the Buddhist compositions of
Wu Tao-tsz, Li Lung-yen, and Ngan Hwui. Down to the

JAPAN

end of the southern Empire in 1279 A-D-> tne Chinese were
at the head of the world in the art of painting, as in many
other things, and their nearest rivals were their own pupils,
the Japanese.

The question to be now considered is what ad-
vantage Japan took of her access to the pictorial
treasures of her neighbour. That she came into
possession of these there can be no doubt, for by the
priests whose enthusiastic zeal impelled them to make
frequent visits to the source of Buddhism, the Middle
Kingdom, sacred images and sacred paintings were
constantly brought back,1 to be placed in temples or
presented to the Palace. Further, that already in the
eighth century she possessed a gallery well stocked,
whether by her own artists or with imported pictures,
is attested by the registers of an ancient temple, To-
dai-ji, where fifty painted screens are entered as having
been among the sacred belongings at that time ; by
the treasure-book of the temple Saidai-ji, where there
is mention of religious pictures of great size, — one
having a height of 4—3 metres with a width of 3
metres, — and by the catalogue of Daio-ji, where
ninety portraits of Buddha's disciples are referred to.
Some of these pictures appear to have been landscapes,
others purely decorative drawings, and others of an
essentially religious character ; but all were either of
Chinese origin or in strict accord with the models
and methods of the Tang masters. Unfortunately few
of them survive. Such authentic examples as have
been handed down, however, not only resemble
Chinese pictures so as to be distinguishable by experts
only, and by them with hesitation, but also indicate
that decorative motives were borrowed at that epoch

1 See Appendix, note 5.

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

from almost every country of continental Asia as well
as from Egypt and Greece. In short, Japan's picto-
rial and decorative art had not yet developed any dis-
tinctive character. Her painters were still living in
the Chinese studio, not, however, as altogether im-
mature pupils, for if any of the surviving examples
may be attributed to them, — as to which nothing can
be affirmed with absolute certainty, — the fact that
they had acquired much technical skill, at all events,
is placed beyond question.

Originality they began to show, according to the
judgment of their own connoisseurs, from the date
(794) of the transfer of the Court to Kyoto. In his-
tory, however, there is nothing to suggest any special
reason for a new departure at that time. Intercourse
with China, especially through Buddhist channels,
had grown even closer than before, and the over-
shadowing influence of Chinese civilisation found
expression in the plan of the new capital itself, which
was a replica of the Tang metropolis. It is true that
the removal of the Court to Kyoto was partly due to
the Emperor Kwammu's revolt against the excessive
sway established by Buddhism at Nara. But the effect
of that policy upon art — if, indeed, it exercised any
effect — would not have been to encourage originality
so much as to diminish the vogue enjoyed by relig-
ious paintings and to divert men's thoughts to secular
pictures. Perhaps that is all that happened, for it is
certain that the seeds of originality said to have been
sown at the close of the eighth century did not
immediately bear any palpable fruit. Kawanari,
descended from a Korean immigre, was the sower, and
of Kawanari's work nothing is known save what
tradition tells. His skill is exalted to miraculous

JAPAN

proportions by legends which show incidentally that
he painted landscapes, portraits, and other natural sub-
jects, but the sole and somewhat doubtful outcome of
his brush that survives is a set of insignificant religious
sketches. Nevertheless his countrymen insist that to
him and his immediate successor, Kose no Kanaoka,
the merit of founding a native school must be as-
signed. Kanaoka has been placed by many histori-
ans at the beginning of Japanese pictorial art, but the
logic of evolution is better consulted by putting him
near the climax of an epoch, for talent such as he
seems to have possessed cannot reasonably be asso-
ciated with any initiatory stage of art development.
Unhappily he too is known to posterity by reputation
only. Several pictures are indeed ascribed to him,
and, from the evidence they furnish, two descriptions
of his style have been confidently adduced : the first
declaring that delicacy and minuteness were his
characteristics, and that he aimed at decorative effect
rather than at boldness or vigour ; the second affirm-
ing that, like the great Chinese artist Wu-Tao-tsz,
upon whom he modelled himself, his conceptions
were as broad and lofty as his style was masculine
and direct. Either or both analyses may be correct,
for the truth is that none of the pictures attributed
to Kanaoka can be viewed without great distrust.
The ablest judges agree that all must be set aside as
apocryphal, and that no materials exist for an estimate
except annals which speak with profound enthusiasm
of the portraits, landscapes, and representations of ani-
mals painted by him. It will be perceived, too, that
there is nothing in all this to indicate a departure
from Chinese models. The Tang masters also painted
landscapes, portraits, and animals, and painted them in

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

a manner never surpassed by the Japanese. In sum,
therefore, nothing can be confidently affirmed except
that from the close of the eighth century secular pic-
tures began to be painted in Japan with sufficient
success to command the warm admiration of connois-
seurs whose judgment had been formed by study of
Chinese masterpieces.

Nor must it be imagined that because Kawanari
and Kanaoka laid the foundations of a Japanese
school of secular painting, the religious picture of the
Chinese school fell out of public favour. On the
contrary, it held its place almost as firmly as ever.
Buddhist priests became famous artists as well as ethi-
cal teachers, and, visiting China in constantly increas-
ing numbers, saw models there which they hastened
to copy or procured pictures which they carried to
Japan. The central figure of these enthusiasts was
Kukai, better known by his posthumous title of Kobo
Daishi (790-840), the greatest priest in Japanese his-
tory. Repairing to China to complete his religious
studies, he had an opportunity of witnessing the
civilisation of the Tang dynasty, and on his return
to Japan he set himself to propagate, under official
auspices, a doctrine (the Mikkio}, which depended
largely on appeals to the sensuous side of human
nature, and enlisted in its services whatever aids were
furnished by the beautiful, the gorgeous, and the
picturesque. In painting and in sculpture alike he
attained high renown, and his century is further
illuminated by the names of Saicho (commonly called
Dengyo Daishi), Jitsuye, Yenchin, and one or two
other priests reputed to have been great artists. But
posterity knows them in the pages of history alone.
Their works have not survived. Not more than three

JAPAN

pictures now remaining, or at most four, can be con-
fidently attributed to the gallery of the ninth century,
and among them one alone is identifiable as the produc-
tion of a particular artist. It is from Kukai's brush,
a portrait of his hierarch, Gonso, painted with suffi-
cient vigour and feeling to show that already in the
ninth century the religious artists of Japan stood on a
plane of high achievement, and that the enthusiastic
eulogies bestowed by tradition on their secular con-
temporaries, Kawanari and Kanaoka, were doubtless
not undeserved.

It may be noted here of all Japanese painters down
to the twelfth century, perhaps even down to the
thirteenth, that they regarded the religious picture
as the field of highest achievement, and that, when
their subject was a Buddhist divinity, a Nirvana, an
Arhat, or a Rishi, they sought inspiration either
directly from the Chinese masters or indirectly from
the latter's most famous disciples. Religious paint-
ings, like religious propagandism, appeal either to the
intellect or to the senses. Pictures of the former class
are, of course, the exception ; those of the latter, the
rule. The characteristics of Japanese Buddhist paint-
ings in general are the characteristics of the illumi-
nated missal : a rich display of gold and of glowing
but harmonious colours, with conventional drawing,
complete absence of chiaroscuro, apparent errors of
anatomy, and faithful observance of traditional types.
Sometimes, however, just as the noble thoughts of a
great preacher impart new and lofty aspects to the
familiar faith he inculcates, so Buddhist pictures from
a master hand cease to be a mere repetition of hack-
neyed types, and reveal glimpses of a world of divine
inspirations and emotions. Thus it happens that

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

several names — above all, those of Hirotaka and
Meicho (commonly called Cho Dense) — are specially
celebrated for paintings of this class, but the student
will find that Japan's best artists in all ages contrib-
uted their quota to the pictorial treasures of the
temples, and that not until after the twelfth century
did the secular picture rise to a place of fully equal
importance with the sacred.

Considering what a small number of authenticated
pictures offer themselves for examination, an attempt
to distinguish between the technical characteristics of
the religious, or Chinese, and the secular, or Japanese,
schools at this early stage may seem unwarranted.
The distinction is made, however, by Japanese
connoisseurs, and finds confirmation in later evidence.
The secular artist, they say, held his brush oblique,
and aimed at a light and fine style of delineation,
choosing simple and tender colours. The religious
artist held his brush perpendicular ; sought accuracy
before everything; did not attempt to vary the
thickness of his strokes, and used stronger colours
than his secular confrere. Such a verdict, it may be
remarked, harmonises exactly with the indications
furnished by the calligraphical styles of the Chinese
and the Japanese. Both starting from the same
point, one nation preserved the square, formal, and
mathematically exact type of ideograph, whereas the
other developed a cursive, graceful, and unconventional
script.

The divergence of the Japanese secular artist's
brush from strictly Chinese lines gradually became so
marked that, in about a hundred years from the time
of Kanaoka, — that is to say, in the middle of the
tenth century, — the public clearly recognised the

JAPAN

existence of a native school, and called it Yamato-riu,
or Waga-riuy synonyms for " Japanese style." The
reported founder of the school was Kasuga Motomitsu,
but from what has been related here it will be seen
that his genius represented the outcome of a tendency
rather than its origin. He did not suggest the new
route, but showed rather what could be achieved by
following the route that Kawanari and Kanaoka had
already indicated. Artists are necessarily swayed in
their choice of motives by the circumstances of their
era. As the city of Kyoto grew in wealth and
luxury, its social life gradually ceased to be over-
shadowed by religious influences, and for the decora-
tion of screens and sliding doors in palaces and
mansions people began to desire representations of
natural scenery, of festivals, of flowery landscapes, and
of such other subjects as might reflect and harmonise
with the refined and voluptuous habits of their ex-
istence. It is thus in the direction of motives, not of
technique, that the new departure can be traced most
clearly, the artist no longer seeking inspiration in the
field of sacred mythology, but turning rather to the
realm of every-day life, — court ceremonials, legendary
lore, incidents in the biographies of celebrated men,
episodes suggested by poetry or history, and scenic
gems. In short, decorative beauty had to be con-
sidered by the Yamato artists at least as much as
pictorial excellence, one consequence of which neces-
sity was that they gradually began to use fuller-bodied
tints, and to contrive that a picture should produce
a general effect as well as a special ; in other words,
that when seen from a distance too great to distinguish
details, it should still be delightful as a scheme of
harmonised colours. In the hands of great masters

HERON.

By Ssishiu.

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

a picture often assumed this dual character with
admirable success, but the abuses of the conception
were sometimes shocking. They grew more marked
as the school advanced in age, and ultimately the
elements of a painting came to be disposed with such
care for decorative effect that the coloured areas con-
veyed a suggestion of diapers or brocaded patterns.
Such freaks, however, did not obtain vogue until the
sixteenth century, and were confined chiefly to what
may be called the book illustrations of the time ;
namely, paintings on interminably long scrolls in-
scribed with historical or biographical records.1

The Yamato artists are often said to have failed
signally in their delineations of the human figure ; to
have followed traditional types, generally ungraceful
and unnatural, and to have drawn faces, legs, and
arms that seldom approximated to correctness. That
criticism must not be accepted too implicitly. It is
certainly true when applied to the work done by the
rank and file of the school ; but in the case of the
masters close examination generally reveals that
the outlines of their figures diverge, not from the
standard of absolute correctness, but from the standard
which the critic himself has been accustomed to
regard as normal. They show lines which assuredly
exist in nature, but which are not the lines that
Europeans and Americans have taught themselves to
consider salient.

The Yamato school is sometimes spoken of as the
Kasuga, after its alleged founder Kasuga Motomitsu,
and sometimes the Kasuga is regarded as a branch of
the Yamato. From the middle of the thirteenth
century the name was changed to Tosa-riu, the prin-

1 See Appendix, note 6.

VOL. VII. 3 -5-5

JAPAN

cipal representative of the academy at that time
having been honoured with the title of Tosa Gon-no-
kumi. Thenceforth through every era the successive
artists of the school bore the family name " Tosa."
Japanese connoisseurs maintain that for a time the
styles of the Kasuga and the Tosa could be clearly
differentiated, the former being distinguished by its
fine and flowing brush-work, the latter by the bold-
ness, firmness, and directness of its touch. But these
differences soon became imperceptible, and that they
had ever existed was forgotten by all except the
keenest critics. The characteristics of the Tosa
masters were magnificent combinations of colours
and remarkable skill of composition. They may be
called decorators and illustrators rather than painters
of pictures as the term is generally understood, for
their best work is found on screens, sliding doors, and
historical or legendary scrolls. Indeed, as historical
illustrators they are quite peerless, for in no other
country can be found pictorial annals such as those
with which they enriched Japan during the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries and the first half of the
fourteenth. A long list of illustrious names belongs
to that era, culminating in the fourteenth century
with Takashima Takekane, of whom his countrymen
allege that among all the crowded scenes of court,
camp, and domestic life depicted on his scrolls, no two
show the same grouping.

Although the records indicate that Kose no Kana-
oka followed Kawanari in popularising secular, or
Japanese, pictures, the Kose school subsequently came
to be regarded as representing the Chinese style, the
works of its masters being in marked accord with what
were known as classical canons. Several of those

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

masters had the honour of holding the position of
" painter laureate " (edokoro), a post created in the year
808. After Kanaoka the greatest artist of the school
during the Heian epoch — namely, from the ninth
to the twelfth century — was Hirotaka, a prince of
the blood, whose works are said to have stood out
from the canvas like living pictures. He occupied
himself chiefly with religious pictures, whereas two
other masters of the school at the same epoch, Kintada
and Kimmochi, became celebrated for landscape paint-
ing, the former choosing Chinese scenes, the latter
Japanese. Other renowned artists of the Kose school
in the same epoch were Koreshige and Nobushige.

A branch of the Kose school, namely, the Takuma,
is distinguished by Japanese connoisseurs, but in truth
the only appreciable difference is that the Takuma mas-
ters, following the methods of the Sung painters of
China, carried the decorative features of their relig-
ious paintings to a degree of unprecedented splendour
and elaboration. Takuma Tamenari founded the
school in the middle of the eleventh century, and his
greatest work, still extant though much defaced by
time, was the decoration of the walls and doors of
the temple Biyodo-in at Uji, on which occasion he
chose for subjects the nine circles of the Buddhist
paradise and eight effigies of Shaka. The bold and
brilliant style thus inaugurated found great exponents
in later ages, but can scarcely be said to have preserved
its individuality after the fourteenth century.

These different schools — the Kose, the Takuma, the
Kasuga, and the Tosa — have been mentioned here
because their names are on the lips of every Japanese
connoisseur. But, for purposes of intelligent under-
standing, the qualities and characteristics of the four

JAPAN

may be synthesised into a statement that their works
had one of three objects, — to promote religious pur-
poses, to decorate the interiors of temples or mansions,
and to illustrate scrolls or illuminate missals. The
picture for its own sake did not yet exist.

In the twelfth century was born a style of art en-
tirely independent of foreign inspiration. It con-
sisted of humorous sketches, in which not merely the
motives but also the drawing was burlesqued. The
Japanese have never been notably skilful caricaturists.
Even in modern times their attempts to produce comic
publications after the fashion of Punch or Life are not
successful, owing to their persistent inability to pre-
serve a likeness while distorting it. In the Toba-ye,
as humorous pictures were called after their origina-
tor— the Priest of the Toba Monastery (Toba Sojo),
otherwise Minamoto no Kakuyu — particular emo-
tions were emphasised by exaggerating the part of
the body affected by them, so that accuracy of draw-
ing, in the Occidental sense of the term, became a
secondary consideration. Kakuyu, though generally
remembered only as the father of this school, distin-
guished himself highly as a painter of religious and
secular (Tamato) pictures, and the authenticated speci-
mens, a very few rolls, of his comic drawings that
have been handed down to posterity, show much
power of brush and play of fancy. He had a host
of successors in every age, the majority immeasurably
inferior, some even greater than himself, and many
whose style differed so essentially from his that they
had nothing in common with him except a keen
sense of humour. To appreciate the work of this
school, it is necessary to have an intimate knowledge
of Japanese legends, folk-lore, proverbs, history, and

GROUP OF MONKEYS.

By Sosen.

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

customs, all of which the Toba-ye artist illustrated.
It is also necessary to remember the art axiom that in
naturalistic drawing accuracy of proportion and beauty
of line are properly sacrificed to the appearance of
life. From the time of Toba Sojo to the days of
Hokusai and Kyosai, the Japanese humorous painter
always recognised that his first duty was to give the
character — the burlesque, laughter-provoking char-
acter — of the objects he depicted, and that if he suc-
ceeded in conveying a strong and immediate impression
of that character, his purpose was accomplished,
even though his lines were classically incorrect. In
short, his work forcibly illustrates the principle that
whereas line in classic drawing is generally attained
at the expense of life, life in naturalistic drawing is
often attained at the expense of line.

In the fourteenth century Japanese art reverted to its
old source of inspiration, China. This movement
was headed by Josetsu, who took for models the mas-
terpieces of the Middle Kingdom's artists at the close of
the Sung and the beginning of the Yuan dynasty, so that
to the school thus established was given the name of
So-gen (Chinese, Sung-yuari). Josetsu was a priest of
the Zen sect of Buddhism, just then beginning to
gain disciples on a large scale in Japan, and he is also
said to have been of Chinese origin. There are some
close students who deny to him the title of having led
the Chinese renaissance in Japan. They claim that
honour equally for another naturalised Chinese artist,
Shoga Shiubun, and for a predecessor of both, Nen
Kawo. The fact is, that the tendency of the time was
responsible rather than the genius of an individual.
Readers of Japanese history know that feudalism was
established in the thirteenth century, and that in the

JAPAN

fourteenth all society had become permeated with
the military spirit. The canons of the bushi were
the ethics of the era, and the austere philosophy of the
Zen creed commended itself to a large section of the
educated class. It was natural that this change should
be reflected in the region of aesthetics, and since Chi-
nese art happened to be passing at the time through
a phase which accorded excellently with Japan's
mood, the old relation of pupil and teacher was re-
established insensibly without a strong initiative on
the part of any special artist. The style of painting
then inaugurated found its chief expression in mono-
chromatic, or lightly coloured, landscapes and sea-
scapes of great delicacy, fidelity, and beauty, and in
wonderfully lifelike, vigorous sketches of birds,
flowers, and foliage.

It is characteristic of this school, which has had
numerous representatives in every era since its foun-
dation by the emigrant monks of Kyoto, that its
motives, like its style, were generally exotic. Until
modern times, the Japanese usually loved to derive
examples of chivalry, of statesmanship, of warlike
prowess, of philosophy, of filial piety, of feudal de-
votion, and of legendary folk-lore from the annals
of the Middle Kingdom. Hence the artists of the
fourteenth-century renaissance, and their followers in
almost every era, chose Chinese motives for their pic-
tures, and instead of drawing inspiration direct from
the exquisite scenery of their own country and the
noble acts of their own countrymen and country-
women, were content to copy Chinese ideals of land-
scape, and to devote themselves to illustrating Chinese
traditions. It is easy to conceive what a despotism
of methods, of mannerisms, and of conventionali-

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

ties would reign in such a school. Just as West's
great picture of Wolfe's death was supposed to vio-
late all the proprieties of art because the figures were
depicted in eighteenth-century coats and hats instead
of in Grecian " drapery " or Roman togas, so the
Japanese disciple of the Chinese school had to obey
canons which cramped his originality and were only
saved from becoming anachronistic by the imme-
morial conservatism of the Chinese nation. Con-
cerning the excellences of this school, it may be said
that, apart from force, directness, and delicacy of line,
which are common to all Japanese masters, there is a
really remarkable sense of " values ;" a subtle atten-
tion to colour gradations and atmospheric conditions,
which would have given almost perfect results had
the principle been uniformly recognised that nature
does not show accented outlines, that edges are never
the deepest notes of colour in her landscapes and sea-
scapes. A very appreciative paragraph from An-
derson's " Pictorial Arts of Japan " may be quoted
here : —

The Chinese artist was often remarkably felicitous in the
renderings of the wilder forms of picturesque beauty 'in land-
scape. Silvery cascades ; tranquil pools and winding streams ;
towering silicic peaks and rugged headlands ; gnarled fan-
tastic pines and plum-trees, side by side with the graceful
forms and feathery foliage of the bamboo ; mansions or
pavilions, gorgeous in vermilion and gold, crowning the
heights or bordering the expanse of an inland lake, and
rustic cottages with straw-thatched roofs nestling in the cul-
tivated valleys : these were elements that the painter could
assort and reconstruct into a thousand pictures of never-
failing interest and beauty. The Japanese painters of the
classical schools, seduced by the charm of the foreign ideal,
were often led to neglect the familiar attractions of their own

JAPAN

scenery, and without having beheld any of the spots depicted
by the old landscape-masters of China, squandered an infin-
ity of talent and ingenuity in building up new creations of
their own with the material borrowed at second hand from
their neighbours.

Connoisseurs are wont to divide into three great
streams the flood of Chinese renaissance that invaded
Japan in the fifteenth century ; the purely Chinese
stream, just spoken of as springing from Josetsu and
Shiubun ; the Sesshiu stream, springing from Sesshiu,
whom many count the most colossal figure in Jap-
anese art ; and the Kano stream, springing from
Masanobu and Motonobu, who, whether they rank
above or below Sesshiu, certainly founded the chief
academy of Japanese painters. The reader will at
once seek some explanation of the reasons underlying
this division. It is difficult to give any that can be
called satisfactory. As to Sesshiu, some Japanese con-
noisseurs claim that he developed a peculiar style of
his own, untrammelled by classical conditions. To
Occidental eyes, however, this independence is not
easily apparent. He adhered to Chinese motives and
Chinese methods as faithfully as did Shiubun and his
disciples, and no dictum appears truer than that Sesshiu
was " the open door through which all contemporary
and subsequent artists looked into the seventh heaven
of Chinese genius.'* Masanobu and Motonobu, the
founders of the Kano school, were not less " classic "
than Sesshiu. In the works of all three masters,
though in varying degree, there are found the noble
breadth of design, the subtle relationship of tones, the
splendid calligraphic force and the "all-pervading
sense of poetry " that constituted the highest features
of Chinese pictorial art in the Tang, Sung, and Yuan

.WO/18 3HT VIO THOIJKOOM

.udonotoM

MOONLIGHT ON THE SNOW.

By Motonobu.

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

epochs. For all purposes of true appreciation it
seems sufficient to say that the fifteenth century was
the culminating period of Chinese pictorial art
in Japan, and that its giant figures, Shiubun,
Sesshiu, Masanobu, and Motonobu, though they
stand at the head of three distinct lines of artists,
drew their inspiration from the same source and
set before themselves the same ideals. Motonobu's
masterpieces had the special excellence of being free
from the hard outlines which in Sesshiu's pictures
offend against natural laws ; but this superiority is
partly balanced by loss of vigour and massiveness.

The immediate object of these notes being to trace
the development of Japanese art itself, not the his-
tory of Japanese artists, reference is omitted to the
names of several great disciples upon whom the mantle
of the four renaissance masters fell, and the reader is
invited to pass at once to the closing years of the
sixteenth century, when a new departure was made by
two leaders of the Kano school, Eitoku and Sanraku.
It has been shown above that pure Chinese influence
reached its first culminating point in the ninth century,
when Kose no Kanaoka won immortal fame, and that
his classical style continued to monopolise the field of
pictorial art until the eleventh century, when Moto-
mitsu founded the Yamato, or Japanese school, which
subsequently developed decorative characteristics, and
finally, in the hands of the Tosa masters, became
more remarkable for rich colour harmonies and gor-
geous illuminations than for any of the qualities rec-
ognised by classical canons. So, too, it is found that
the rebirth of Chinese influence in the fifteenth cen-
tury, which speedily reached the zenith of its glory
in the hands of Sesshiu, was followed, within less

JAPAN

than two hundred years, by a decorative impulse pre-
cisely analogous to that represented by the genesis and
growth of the Yamato school. Eitoku and. Sanraku
introduced this decorative method in the Kano acad-
emies at the close of the sixteenth century, just as
the internecine wars by which the country had been
tortured for five hundred years were drawing to a close,
and feudal castles and noblemen's residences of un-
precedented massiveness and magnificence were begin-
ning to be built throughout the Empire. Eitoku
created, perhaps, the greatest purely decorative style
of painting that the East has ever produced. His
style accurately reflected the fashions and tendencies
of his time, when, under the rule of Hideyoshi, the
administrative power began to be associated with dis-
plays of imposing magnificence, and when asstheticism,
officially inspired, found expression in the lavish adorn-
ment of castles, temples, and palaces, and in the
construction of beautiful parks. On the walls and slid-
ing-doors of these edifices, Eitoku, Sanraku, and their
fellows produced pictures glowing with gold and rich
colour-harmonies. The decorative artists that preceded
them had used the precious metal sparingly for pick-
ing out designs, whereas they employed it to form
wide fields on which they painted episodes of war,
phases of aristocratic life, or subjects taken from the
kingdom of flowers and foliage, the ensemble conveying
a suggestion of rich gems clustered in broad areas of
mellow gold.

Perhaps it should be added here that though the
decorative mode represented by the Yamato-Tosa
school undoubtedly preceded that of the Kano school,
the former began to be strongly conspicuous almost
simultaneously with the development of the latter,

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

and both are to be traced to the political and economic
conditions of the time rather than to any independent
art impulse. The whole period of the Tokugawa
Regency's sway — that is to say, the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries and the first half of the nineteenth
— was marked by profound peace and by the spread
of luxurious habits hitherto confined to the great
administrative families in the Imperial capital. The
applied arts certainly attained their highest develop-
ment during those centuries, and it is probably safe to
say that in no other country nor at any other epoch,
ancient or modern, were the services of pictorial art
so widely and so successfully employed for decorative
purposes. Further, from the beginning of the seven-
teenth century, a patriotic reaction can be traced
against the slavish adherence of the classical schools
to Chinese motives and methods, and a growing
impulse to favour the work of the Kano and Tosa
masters, who chose Japanese subjects and attached to
the decorative quality in their pictures importance
which brought them into close touch with the archi-
tectural developments of the time. Doubtless this
taste for exquisite harmonies of colour and glowing
yet tender tints, grand illustrations of which may be
seen in the interior decoration of temples, palaces,
and mansions, owed something to a contemporaneous
change in Chinese pictorial methods, — a change from
the noble simplicity and force of the Tang, Sung, and
Yuan monochromes to the strong, full-bodied colours
and microscopically elaborate style of the later Ming
pictures. But the influence of Chinese artists was not
a prime factor in the movement : it must be regarded
rather as a reflection of the development of Japanese
civilisation under the Tokugawa Regents, the ten-

JAPAN

dency, if not the aim, of whose policy was to culti-
vate the growth of an effeminate, splendour-loving
mood among the aristocratic classes in lieu of the
fiercely ambitious temper of medieval militarism.

The sequence of development arrives now at the

Ukiyo-ye Riu, or « Popular school," as it has been

generally called by Western critics. The word ukiyo

literally signifies "floating world ;" that is to say, this

transient world, or every-day life. Hence, when a

Japanese speaks of ukiyo-ye (ye signifies picture) he

means simply genre paintings — representations of

persons and things that belong to the ephemeral

scenes among which the artist moves. It is generally

alleged that the so-called Popular school owed its

origin to Iwasa Matahei, a painter who flourished in

the second half of the sixteenth century. But the

statement is somewhat misleading. A careful reader

of what has been written above will see that, from

the beginning of the thirteenth century, incidents of

national life furnished to the Tosa masters their chief

motives, and that, down to the Chinese renaissance in

the fifteenth century, artists did not hesitate to seek

subjects for delineation in the daily doings of the

plebeian classes. Even the great founders of the

Kano school, men whose works support comparison

with the masterpieces of Chinese genius, had no fear

of degrading their art or alienating aristocratic

patronage when they depicted episodes from the

kitchen, the stable, the farmyard, and the workshop.

The truth is, that in the rise and development of the

Popular school must be traced, not a new artistic

departure, but simply a reflection of the changes

which the civilisation of the era was undergoing.

From the end of the sixteenth century, the actor, the

.33IH QVIA JIAU9

QUAIL AND RICE.

By Tosa.

/ *>. •>•

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

courtesan, and the danseuse began to occupy an un-
precedented place in every-day life, and became the
centres of a voluptuous aestheticism which constantly
presented new spectacular attractions for dilettanti, and
made new appeals to the artistic as well as the sensu-
ous instincts of the people. Matahei caught the first
note of this innovation and fixed it pictorially with
wonderful fidelity. The figure-subjects which con-
stitute his specialty are instinct with refined sensuality
and graceful abandon. He introduces his public to a
life where dancing, music, and sybaritism in every
form are beginning to take the place of politics and
war, and where even the strong contours of the male
figure show a tendency to merge into the soft curves
of the female. He did not succeed, however, in
transmitting his inspiration to any of his pupils or
immediate successors, and it was not till the close of
the seventeenth century, when Hishigawa Moronobu
employed the art of wood-engraving to bring the
ukiyo-ye within reach of the masses, that the Popular
school began to assume a really important place, and
to associate itself directly with the production of
chromo-xylographs which are now the wonder and
the delight of Western collectors. The story of the
chromo-xylographic development and of the wealth
of artistic treasures and technical triumphs that it has
bequeathed to Japan, deserves an independent treatise,
but it is not possible here to note more than the most
salient facts.

There is some uncertainty about the origin of
wood-engraving in Japan. It is generally attributed
to the ninth century. That would make it fully a
hundred years subsequent to the introduction of block-
printing, which came from China certainly not later

JAPAN

than the middle of the eighth century. Nothing
like proficiency was attained, however, until the time
(1320) of a priest named Rydkin, and even his pro-
ductions— a few of which are extant — derive interest
from their period rather than their quality.1 All the
motives of the early woodcuts were religious. The
blocks, being preserved in temples, served for printing
pictures of deities which were distributed to pilgrim
worshippers. Apparently the idea of using engrav-
ings for illustrating printed matter did not suggest
itself until the sixteenth century, but from that time
woodcuts began to be freely inserted in the pages of
historical romances, poetical anthologies, and other
kinds of literature. These pictures were not remark-
able. Draughtsmen of talent did not concern them-
selves in their production, and it was not until the
last quarter of the seventeenth century that xylogra-
phy began to be applied to really artistic purposes.
Hishigawa Moronobu and Okamura Masanobu were
the two artists who supplied drawings for this new
departure. Their work was vigorous, their composi-
tion clever, and the engraver did his part so well that
woodcuts of really high merit were produced.
Almost immediately the potentialities of this branch
of art were recognised, and a number of very beauti-
ful albums appeared, chiefly from the brushes of Ooka
Shunboku and Tachibana no Morikumi. They con-
tained accurate copies of pictures by the great Chinese
and Japanese masters of previous eras, as well as
lessons for young painters and suggestions for decora-
tive designs covering the whole range of applied art.
Another extensive field for the employment of wood-
cuts was the popular novel, which grew out of

1 See Appendix, note 7.

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

the monogatari, or historical romance. Nearly all the
great artists of the Ukiyo-ye school assisted in the
illustration of these books, though it is plain that they
did not consider the task worthy of their best efforts.
Much more elaborate work appears in the pages of
the "illustrated accounts of celebrated places" (meisho-
zuye), several of which were compiled in each im-
portant city or province, for the purpose of depicting
the scenic features of the locality and recording every-
thing of topical interest. In fine, before the middle
of the eighteenth century, Japanese xylography had
attained a stage of development much higher than
that reached at the same epoch in Europe.

Very soon after the woodcut had begun to be used
artistically for purposes of illustration, the practice of
colouring it by hand came into vogue. At first, only
two colours were used, orange and green, but yellow
was subsequently added. It is evident that the painter
desired to preserve the quality of the line engraving,
and that he subordinated these broad, decorative
effects of colour to the character of the black and
white drawing. Among hand-coloured prints two
kinds are sometimes mistaken for chromo-xylographs.
They are the tan-ye, or orange picture, and the urushi-
ye, or lacquered picture. The former derived its name
from the fact that orange was the dominant colour,
yellow the secondary ; and the latter was so called
because of the addition of black lacquer, which helped
to emphasise the delicate lines of the engraving,
though occasionally it threw the other colours out of
scale. In some cases the heaviness of the black lac-
quer was relieved by a sprinkling of gold leaf. All
this work, though it produced many beautiful exam-
ples, needs only cursory mention.

JAPAN

China could have taught chromo-xylographic pro-
cesses to Japan while the latter was still content with
hand-coloured engravings. No sufficient explanation
has ever been offered of the fact that the Japanese
were so slow to borrow from their neighbours in this
field. Probably the truth is that the Chinese chromo-
xylograph never appealed to Japanese taste, and never
deserved to appeal to it. At all events, the Chinese
understood colour-printing early in the seventeenth
century, whereas the Japanese did not begin to practise
it until nearly the middle of the eighteenth.1 Their
first essays were simple, the colours used being only
two, red and green. The artists whose names were
connected with this innovation are Torii Kiyonobu
and Torii Kiyomasu, followed immediately by Oka-
mura Masanobu, then an old man, and by Torii
Kiyohiro, Torii Kiyomitsu, and Torii Kiyoshige.
These prints received the name of beni-ye (vermilion
pictures), in consequence of the red predominating in
the scheme of colour. Many of them are admirable
examples of skilful massing, disposing, and contrasting
of colours. The artists evidently appreciated at its
full value the technical superiority of colour printing
over hand painting, namely, steady, even tints and
absence of bewildering gradations of tone. The
next step was from the " vermilion picture " to the
print of three, or even four, colours. Some ten or
twelve years had elapsed before the change took place,
and during that time the artists had fully mastered
the basic principles of colour composition for such
purposes, and had learned the subtleties of balance
and harmony. Torii Kyomitsu now produced beauti-
ful prints, in which secondary colours were developed

1 See Appendix, note 8.

FLOWER STUDY.

By Korin.

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

by superposition of primary, so that, while still using
only three blocks, red, blue, yellow, purple, and green
were obtained, which, with the black and white of
the print, gave a scheme of seven colours. At this
point (about 1760) Suzuki Harunobu appeared. By
many connoisseurs he is counted the greatest master
of nishiki-ye? and the title rests on at least three
solid foundations, namely, the delicacy of his line
drawing, the delightful softness and music of his
colours, and the atmosphere of fresh innocence with
which he envelops his female figures. But Ha-
runobu's conceptions of life and its graces recall the
declining day of Heian civilisation, when " cloud
gallants " painted their eyebrows, powdered their
faces, and aped femininity. His work is never robust ;
his men are scarcely distinguishable from women ; he
deforms hands and feet to make them slender, and he
knows only one type of female beauty which he pro-
duces and reproduces unceasingly. Nevertheless to
him undoubtedly belongs the credit of having inau-
gurated a new and almost final departure in Japanese
chromo-xylography. He abandoned the drawing of
actors to which his contemporaries had hitherto con-
fined themselves, — a limitation which, in turn, con-
fined their public to the lower middle classes, since
the theatre and everything appertaining to it belonged
essentially to vulgar life, — and he set himself to
design chromo-xylographic pictures of ladies and gen-
tlemen amid the luxuries of their lives and the re-
finements of their pastimes. Further, he included
backgrounds in his scheme of colours ; multiplied the
number of blocks so as to produce a variety of tints,
strong, light, and soft; changed the shape of the

1 Sec Appendix, note 9.

VOL. vii. — 0

JAPAN

paper, and added embossing, which greatly increased
the representative capabilities of the art. From his
time no marked advance was made. None, indeed,
was possible. There was elaboration, but no important
innovation. In the same category with Harunobu
stand a large school of brilliant artists, great in a pic-
torial as well as a decorative sense : Koriusai, Katsukawa
Shunsho, Ippitsusai, Buncho, Katsukawa Shunyei,
Utagawa Toyonobu, Utagawa Toyoharu, Kitao Shi-
gemasa, Kubo Shunman, Torii Kiyonaga, Shuncho,
Chobunsai, Yeishi, Kikugawa Utamaro, Utagawa To-
yokuni, Hokusai, Hokkei, and Hiroshige. They
cover a space from 1750 to 1850, just a century. As
to which of them deserves to be placed on the throne
of chromo-xylographic art, there are differences of
opinion, but the honour certainly belongs to one of
these four, Utamaro, Kiyonaga, Harunobu, and Koriu-
sai. Some hold that everything culminated in Kiyonaga
(1780—1795), that everything subsequent to him was
a degeneration, and that everything good in contem-
porary or later art was due to his influence. But the
longer the chromo-xylographs of Japan are studied
and the wider the student's range of acquaintance
with them, the more does Kikugawa Utamaro force
himself into the first place, alike for vigour, for ver-
satility, for tenderness, for truth of line, and for beauty
of colour harmonies.

After Hiroshige, whose landscapes are among the
finest pictures of the chromo-xylographic gallery,
nothing good was produced. Indeed the era of deca-
dence had set in long before Hiroshige designed his
last prints (1855), though the end was postponed by
several admirable artists. At one time (1842), and
that not by any means the golden age of the art, the

5°

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

Yedo government, in a mood of economy, deemed it
necessary to issue a sumptuary law prohibiting the
sale of various kinds of chromo-xylographs, — single-
sheet pictures of actors, danseuses, and " dames of the
green chamber" : pictures in series of three sheets or
upwards, and pictures in the printing of which more
than seven blocks were used. The prohibition held
for twelve years only, but it certainly contributed to
hasten the decadence which had already begun. As
to that decadence, not much need be said. Its
features force themselves upon the attention of the
most superficial student. From the exquisite pic-
tures of Utamaro, Kiyonaga, Harunobu, and their
rivals, to the meritless, meretricious work of later
artists there is an immense interval in quality though
a brief interval of years. It would be a misconcep-
tion to assume, however, that the ability to produce
beautiful chromo-xylographs has been lost. It is
there still, as was recently proved by a notable revival
with which the names of Ogata Gekko, Watanabe
Seitei, Kiyosai, and Kansai were connected. But the
art has been vulgarised. The coloured print has be-
come chiefly a child's toy. Artists can no longer
afford to superintend the technical processes of its
production, and cheap flaring, violent pigments im-
ported from abroad have taken the place of the deli-
cate, rich, and costly colours of old Japan.

One of the facts which the student of the Far East
soon learns to expect is that Occidental precedents
must be reversed to suit Japanese methods. In Eu-
rope or America the engraver on wood must be able
to express light and shade by line or dot, and to
distinguish between textures by means of his " line."
It is frequently necessary for him to reproduce the very

JAPAN

brush-marks of the artist in order to retain the char-
acter of the original. Hence the credit of the pic-
ture does not belong solely to the artist, but is
shared by the engraver. In Japan the engraver has
no honour; he is a mere artisan. This interesting
point will be understood from the following descrip-
tion of the Japanese chromo-xylographic process (fur-
nished by Mr. S. Tuke, one of the most zealous
students of the subject) : —

In the first place, the artist will compose his original de-
sign somewhat in this fashion. He commences with a small
rough sketch, perhaps on an odd scrap of paper. Next he
proceeds to make an outline drawing with a brush dipped in
very thin and pale Indian ink on a sheet of paper of the
requisite size. Having corrected this and satisfied himself
with his performance, he will carefully and accurately draw
in the whole outline in black ink. If this outline is not en-
tirely satisfactory, he will make a corrected tracing upon thin
paper. In this case he may partially paint the original pic-
ture with the colour printing.

At this stage the wood-engraver's services are called in.
Having procured a block of cherry wood of the desired
dimensions and sawn with the grain (not across the grain,
as is our habit in the West), the original drawing, or the
tracing as the case may be, will be pasted face down upon
the block. If the drawing cannot be distinctly seen through
the back of the paper, its upper layers will be very carefully
rubbed off with a wet hand or cloth, until the outline can
be clearly seen through the thinnest possible film of paper.
Having received the requisite instructions from the artist,
the engraver will commence to carve out the space be-
tween the black portions of the design, leaving the black
outline alone in relief. This operation concluded, and the
fragments of paper having been removed with a brush, the
outline having been made, the first stage will be completed.
In the case of an ordinary print in black and white the
engraver's labours are now ended, but in the case of a

SUNRISE ON THE SEASHORE.

By Nomura Bunkyo.

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

colour print he still has duties to perform, as will be pres-
ently seen.

The printer's services are now required, and a certain
number of copies will be printed, on thin paper, from the
outline block — one copy at least for each colour which is to
appear in the finished picture. The artist's help will now
again be needed, and if he has not already coloured portions
of the original drawing, he will colour, entirely or in part,
one of these printed copies as a model for the finished pic-
ture. Then he will paint, possibly by tracing on another of
these outline copies, all portions of the picture that are of the
same colour ; on another copy, in the same way, the parts of
the picture that are of another colour, and so on, until he has
thus painted as many single-colour copies as there are colours
in the finished picture. Each of these coloured copies is
now pasted on a separate block of cherry wood. The en-
graver then resumes work. He carves away the whole sur-
face of each block, including the outline, leaving only in
relief the coloured part of the design. In each case he also
carves at the corner and edge of the block a rectangular nick
and a guiding line, which correspond exactly to a similar
nick and guiding line in the outline block. A separate
block having thus been produced for each colour, the remains
of the paper copies will be removed, and unless any altera-
tions are required, the engraver's work is concluded. Al-
though it is difficult to overrate the amount of skill
often exhibited by the Japanese wood-engraver, it is easy to
see from this description how thoroughly subordinate he is
to the artist.

Printing is the next process. The various blocks now
pass into the hands of an operator of little less importance
than the engraver in point of skill, and requiring much
greater artistic talent. In a work of any importance the
artist, having selected his paper and directed the mixing of
the various colours, will probably superintend the printing
of the first proofs. But there is no printing-press. The
outline block is placed face upwards upon a stool or upon
the floor, and the portions in relief are carefully painted
with an ink brush. A sheet of paper is then placed upon

JAPAN

the block, one of its corners in the rectangular nick, its edge
against the guiding line, and retained in position by one of
the printer's hands. He will next proceed to pass a flat
padded discover the back of the paper with his other hand,
exercising the requisite amount of pressure with his arm.
The whole of this process will be repeated until he has
printed off the number of outline proofs required for the
first issue. He then replaces the outline block with one of
the colour blocks, and applies the colour to the portions of
the surface that are in relief. Should any shading be
required, he will carefully wipe the colour in gradation par-
tially off the requisite portions with either his hand or a
damp rag. This shading, of course, requires very nice ma-
nipulation, but it is a process not unknown to English etchers.
One of the outline proofs is now placed on the colour block,
its corner in the nick, and its edge against the guiding line,
so that the coloured portions take their right position in the
picture. The padded disc is now passed over the proof,
after which it is removed and fresh colour having been

applied, another proof takes the place of the former. This
process will be continued until the proofs of the first issue have
all been printed in one colour. Then the process is simi-
larly repeated with each colour block in turn, and the first
issue of our nish'iki-ye is now finished and ready for the
market. It will probably be a small issue, to the end that
the artist, should he not be contented with the result, may
be able to make alterations before the outline block has lost
its freshness. Such alterations may be effected in several
ways, either by an entire redistribution of colour on the old
colour blocks, by the substitution of new colour blocks for
old, or by an increase in their number.

It is not unusual to employ a block carved with a design
of some sort which is not coloured, but serves to stamp a
pattern in relief. In printing from such blocks extra
pressure is resorted to. Some of the effects thus obtained
are very attractive.

To obtain good prints it is necessary, in the first place,
that the nick and guiding lines should be exactly in their
right place on each block, and, in the second, that the

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

printer should exercise very great care in placing each sheet
accurately in position on each successive block. Otherwise
the colours will overlap the outlines of one another.

Of course, in the greater number of cases the artist will
leave many of the duties here assigned to him to his subor-
dinates. In recent times, this must have to a great extent
been the case, and both engraving and printing, to say
nothing of the arrangement of the colour blocks, must have
been left to the supervision of a pupil, or even in the hands
of the engraver, or, more likely still, in those of the publish-
ing printer.

What are the special charms which have won for
the paintings, woodcuts, and chromo-xylographs of
the ukiyo-ye masters such applause in Europe and
America ? How is it that a branch of pictorial art
which Japanese connoisseurs have always regarded
with a certain measure of contempt, evokes the
unstinted admiration of Occidental critics ? Some
answer the question by reference to the motives of the
pictures. Here, they say, we have accurate repre-
sentations of the people's occupations and pastimes,
of domestic life with all its graces and conventions,
of the fete and the festival, of love, of battle, of the
chase, of elf-land, of the theatre, of the danseuse, of
the demi-monde, of highway scenes, and of street pan-
oramas. Some, again, reply by pointing to the
immense mine of decorative wealth that Western
designers may find in the detail of the nisbiki-ye.
Such comments are doubtless true, but they appear
very unsatisfying. It is not to obtain information
about Japanese fashions and habits, nor yet to find a
novel pattern for a book cover or a wall-paper, that
the collectors of New York, of Boston, of Paris, and
of London eagerly seek and jealously preserve these
specimens of Japanese art. Other reasons present

JAPAN

themselves. Chiefly to harmony of colour does the
ukiyo-ye owe its charm. There is no ground for sup-
posing, indeed it may be confidently denied, that the
Japanese ever approached the problem of colour from
a scientific point of view ; that they knew anything
about the law of complements and contrasts ; that
they possessed a definite idea about the relief of warm
colours by cool, or the blending of similar notes and
tones by gradation. But their practice shows that
they fully appreciated the prime qualities of colour
symphony, — richness, accordance, and mellowness
There is never a shrill or strident note in these musi-
cal pictures. The primitive colours are there suffi-
ciently to produce strength and volume, but always
delicacy of shade and softness of hue are the pervading
characteristics, and the broken tones blend gently with-
out jar or conflict. If the chromo-xylograph be con-
sidered in the sequel of the magnificent monochromes
of Shiubun, Sesshiu, Jasoku, the Kanos, and other
giants of the classical schools, where the painter's
appreciation of " value " amounts almost to an un-
erring instinct, the student is led to conclude that
Japanese artists did not attempt to elaborate scientific
theories, but went direct to nature for their teaching,
thus discovering and applying the fundamental law
that every shade of colour has its proper place in a
scene, and must hold a fixed relation to its associates
in the general scale. The ukiyo-ye seems, in short,
to have arrived in the regular order of evolution, for
the artist passed from a knowledge of low keys' and
simple colour compositions, developed in the Chinese
schools, to a profound sense of the wider scope and
fuller harmony of high diversified colours, and thus
succeeded in combining the flame and glow of sun-

:-IJIT? v.\

0 y9

CARP IN STREAM.
By Okio.

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

shine brilliancy with the tenderness and refinement
of twilight tints.

But while admitting his greatness as a colourist,
many critics have condemned his drawing. They
complain that the linear character of the objects he
depicts is not accurate, that anatomical laws are often
violated in his figures, that he appears to be without
any exact knowledge of form. It would scarcely be
correct to endorse that criticism unreservedly. A
more discerning verdict is that the Japanese artist, to
whichever of the schools he belonged, sacrificed truth
of detail to truth of mass. His first aim was to obtain
the appearance of life ; accuracy of proportion seemed
a secondary consideration. Each painter had his type
which he idealised more or less, his idealism not being
confined to the face but extending to the physique
and even to the anatomy of his figures. If the details
of the drawing violate accepted canons, complaint is
silenced by the sense of life that pervades the whole ;
by the perfect naturalness of every attitude, every
movement, every gesture ; by the eloquence with
which the character of the objects speaks from the
picture. In short, accuracy is sacrificed to the indi-
viduality that everything in nature possesses, — the
individuality which, in actual experience, impresses
itself upon the attention of the observer and excludes
all thought of linear exactness or anatomical truth.
Kiyosai, the greatest modern representative of the
Popular school, used to say exactly what Veron has
said, namely, that nothing in nature pauses to be por-
trayed ; that there is motion everywhere, — if not
actual motion in the object itself, then motion of the
light falling on it or of the atmosphere surrounding
it ; that without elasticity of line the sense of life

JAPAN

cannot be obtained, and that elasticity of line is
incompatible with what the classicists call strict
accuracy. Kiyosai, as his sketch books showed,
knew all about the structure of the human hand and
foot, but the hands and feet that he drew in his
pictures would have been wholly condemned by a
Bouguereau or an Ingres.

There has already been occasion to note, as a gen-
eral criticism, that in Japanese pictures — not except-
ing those that delight by their fleeting impression of
life and movement, by the appearance of reality and
character they convey — a discord is often created by
the intrusion of accentuated outlines among natural
surroundings. This defect is least observable in the
paintings and chromo-xylographs of the Popular
school, because their motives are usually human
figures and drapery, subjects which not only permit
but require some recognition of outline ; and if, occa-
sionally, the student is disposed to quarrel even with
Kiyonaga, Harunobu, Utamaro, Toyokuni, or Yeishi
for their emphasis of outlines, he forgives them
readily for the sake of the charm of manner, the
exquisite grace of gesture, and the superb rhythm of
movement that their figure subjects display.

Passing, further, to the question of composition,
it may be said that in this feature the ukiyo-ye
paintings stand on a very high level. More unstinted
praise has indeed been bestowed on them, but when
" composition " is here spoken of, reference is made
to the perfect arrangement to which all the factors of
pictorial art must contribute their share, — not merely
flow and force of line, harmony of colour and due
relation of tones, but also linear perspective and
chiaroscuro. Some of the artists of the Popular

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

school understood linear perspective sufficiently not
to offend by obvious disregard of its rules, but they
neglected chiaroscuro, and that defect disqualified
their composition to be called a faultless achievement,
which epithet would otherwise be often applicable to
their admirable grouping of pictorial elements.

This brief analysis may be closed by referring to
one fault conspicuous in all these artists' work : they
did not understand the light-suggestions without
which textures and surfaces cannot be rendered.
They relied upon line and colour to produce effects
which are due in nature to the uneven distribution,
absorption, or reflection of light. Hence, while they
show with admirable accuracy the folds of drapery
and the patterns winding and flowing through all its
plies, they fail to tell whether the surface repre-
sented is that of velvet or of silk or of cotton. It
has been well said that in judging pictures one
must consider what the painter succeeds in doing,
and not be forever critical about what he fails to do.
The ukiyo-ye artists achieved so much that much
may be forgiven to them, but since genre pictures
are certainly the proper field for the display of
texture painting, the absence of this quality in the
ukiyo-ye work cannot be left unnoticed.

The naturalistic tendency of which the pictures
of the Popular school are the most characteristic
outcome, found very refined and beautiful expression
in the works of Maruyama Okio (born 1733, died
1795), a Kyoto artist, who must be regarded as one
of the greatest painters Japan ever produced. Okio
is generally spoken of as the founder of the Shi-jo
school (Shi-jo is the name of a part of Kyoto), and
his contemporary Kishi Doshi (known artistically as

JAPAN

"Ganku ") is placed at the head of a separate school
the Ganku Riu. But though the individuality of
each master impressed itself on his style sufficiently
perhaps, to justify this independent classification, both
are nothing more than great representatives of the
naturalistic sentiment of the era, and both are differ-
entiated from their Ukiyo-ye contemporaries chiefly
by the fact that they never devoted their talents to
the purposes of the woodcut or the chromo-xylo-
graph. In force, grace, tenderness, and accuracy of
3kio has no superior among Japanese artists.
He went direct to nature for instruction, but into all
his exquisite pictures of birds, flowers, grasses, fish
insects, quadrupeds, and figures, he introduced a sub-
jective element as eloquent as it is indescribable It
has been said that his drawing of the human figure
showed all the anatomical errors of his predecessors,
but it must also be said that the question of anatomy
never presents itself for a moment in connection with
his pictures, and that one has no more inclination
to criticise his manner of articulating bones and
moulding muscles than one has to remember the sur-
gical solecisms of Michael Angelo or Delacroix
With the exceptions of Mori Sosen and Kano Tanyu,'
no artist has ever been so assiduously copied in Japan
as Okio. Forgeries of his works exist in hundreds,
but the originals remain always unapproachable.

An eminent critic calls Ganku " stupendous/' and
describes him as "the only artist of recent times
worthy to be ranked on a level with the great masters
of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries." Probably not
many will be found to confirm that verdict from their
own observation. Ganku died just sixty-three years
ago (1838). Numbers of his works remain The

LANDSCAPE IN SEMI-JAPANESE STYLE.

By Hashimoto Gaho. Present time. (See page 68.)

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

best of them seem to be those that show most clearly
the impress of the naturalistic tendency to which Okio
so powerfully contributed ; but if his countrymen be
asked to indicate his title to fame, they invariably
refer to his delineations of the tiger. Now it may
safely be asserted that Ganku never saw a real, live
tiger ; never had an opportunity for studying its anat-
omy and proportions. He formed his own idea of
" a snarling, crouching, treacherous mass of energy,"
and he painted that idea with force and effect, but
yet with so little resemblance to nature's original
that the distortion of the modelling impairs all appre-
ciation of the essence of the thing. He had, how-
ever, seen a tiger's skin, and a tiger's skin is just the
kind of texture that lends itself readily to linear repre-
sentation, and consequently comes within full range
of the Japanese artist's brush. Ganku's tiger skins
are marvels of brush work. Mori Sosen (born 1747,
died 1821), one of the greatest of the Shi-jo masters,
is as celebrated for his delineations of the monkey as
Ganku is for his paintings of the tiger. But Sosen
studied the monkey in nature, and acquired an ex-
traordinarily intimate knowledge of its habits and
attitudes. He may be called the Landseer of Japan ;
for though his fame rests chiefly on his pictures
of the monkey, he has left paintings of deer, of
badgers, of rats, of fishes, and of hares that would
have won for him a great reputation even without
his remarkable studies of simian life.

The reader will understand that no attempt is
here made to separate the Shijo and the Ganku
schools ; their differentiation is scarcely a practical
problem. He will understand, also, that if special
reference is not made in this section to such painters

JAPAN

as Gekkei, Keibun, Hoyen, Kikuchi Yosai, K5rin
and Bunrin, it is for the same reason that has com-
pelled the omission from other sections of any de-
tailed account of the works and styles of scores of
other famous masters, from the early Tosa and Kano
celebrities to Tani Buncho and Hokusai.

What is the present condition of pictorial art in
Japan, and what are its prospects ? The former
question has been answered more than once in a
pessimistic strain. Japan is said to have outlived the
manners and customs from which her old art derived
vitality, and to have entered upon a phase of existence
so permeated with Occidental influences that her
artists, like her tailors and her barbers, cannot resist
the change. Surely that is a superficial view. It
involves the assumption that her art has no elements
permanently worthy of preservation, no intrinsic
merits fit to survive independently of environment.
The fact is that if the present era is without giants
of the brush, like Okio or Sosen, it is not with-
out masters of great talent and high technical skill.
Twenty years ago, Bunrin died in Kyoto : an artist of
whom it has been well said that he " fixed upon
paper and silk with exquisite refinement and sugges-
tiveness the most striking of the atmospheric effects
that cast a fairyland glamour over the scenery of
Japan." At a yet more recent date died Shofu
Kiyosai, a genre painter of immense versatility, force,
and humour, who has left a gallery of pictures show-
ing a wide range of conception and study. Still
more recently these strong representatives of the
Shi-jo and the Popular schools, respectively, were
followed to the grave by Ganki, generally known as
Chikudo Ganki, who ranks not much below Ganku,

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

the founder of his school. These three artists are
sufficient in themselves to redeem the Meiji era from
any charge of hopeless decadence. Nor is the
present time without painters that will certainly be
remembered by posterity. Kawabata Gyokusho,
Hashimoto Gaho, Ogata Gekko, Imao Keinen, Taki
Katei, Kumagaye Naohiko, Nomura Bunkyo, Wata-
nabe Seitei, and Araki Kwampo, not to speak of
others whose talent seems full of promise, make a
group of artists inheriting many of the highest qual-
ities of the various schools they represent.

But while the old art flourishes, quietly and
steadily enriching the nation with its products, there
flourishes also a most pernicious outgrowth of foreign
influence, — a great crop of wretched pictures ; weak,
hurried examples of brush tricks which constitute the
sole equipment of the purely conventional copyist.
It is not implied that such efforts of mere mechanical
dexterity have been suggested by contact with the
art of the West. The wave of Western ideas, pene-
trating, as it has done, to the very heart of the nation,
could not fail to be felt in the region of the national
art. It has been felt, as will be presently explained.
But the comment to be made here — a comment that
extends to the whole range of modern Japanese art
whether pictorial or applied — is that the mercantile
demand resulting from foreign intercourse has created
an essentially mercantile supply. Multitudes of people
whose purses can never bring objects of Western art
within their reach, and who lack either innate taste
or educated liking for such things, are tempted by
cheapness and novelty to purchase Japanese pictures,
and naturally the shrewd trader and the needy
draughtsman take care that this undiscriminating

JAPAN

public shall be satisfied. Dozens of studios are
devoted to the manufacture of painted parodies which
no Japanese connoisseur would regard as pictures,
and not a bric-a-brac store is without rolls and albums
of weak daubs poured out from these workshops. On
the evidence of such paintings it is that the great
majority of foreign critics base their estimate of
modern Japan's pictorial ability, ignorant that they
have before them merely a staple of foreign trade, not
an effort of Japanese art.

Apart from this commercial taint, which, after all,
is a mere accident, the influx of Western ideas shows
itself in two directions : it has called into existence a
school based solely and faithfully on the art of the
Occident, and it has given new vitality to a school
which, while using the old materials and following
the old lines, recognises the value of Western princi-
ples as to perspective and chiaroscuro, and endeavours
to engraft them upon the traditional art of the
nation.

Concerning the purely Western school, a few
words will suffice. Its students have virtually neither
patrons, nor opportunities, nor instructors. There is
no place in a Japanese house for their paintings.
There are no studios which they can attend, no gal-
leries which they can visit. Their means, with very
rare exceptions, are altogether too scanty to permit
travel in Europe or America, and at home they are
without teachers to guide their hand or examples to
educate their eye. Finally, public sentiment is
opposed to their radicalism. Yet for thirty years
they have struggled with such extraordinary courage
and perseverance against these terribly adverse cir-
cumstances that it seems impossible to doubt their

.JOOHJH /.I-1IOS

3 Yfi

MODERN SEMI-JAPANESE SCHOOL.

By Omorl Keido. (See page 68.)

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

ultimate success, mediocre as have been the results
hitherto obtained.

The modern hybrid school has been spoken of
above as a revival rather than a new creation. Such
a form of speech will perhaps be challenged, for more
than one writer of high authority has denied that
any marked traces of Western art are visible in Japan-
ese pictures painted before the opening of the country
forty years ago. It is admitted that in the field of
copperplate engraving some aid was received from
the Dutch at the close of the eighteenth century, and
that a few of the later artists of the Popular school
obeyed the laws of linear perspective ; but even such
an astute critic and accurate historian as the late Dr.
Anderson speaks with surprise of the " want of recep-
tiveness " of Japanese artists, and surmises that it was
chiefly due to the low grade of the European pictorial
works coming under their observation during the era
of restricted foreign intercourse. There is another
explanation, — an explanation vividly illustrated in the
story of an artist who had hitherto received singularly
inadequate notice from foreign essayists. On the
23rd of November in the year 1840 died by his
own hand, in Yedo, Watanabe Kwazan. He was a
member of the patrician (shizoku) order. During the
last two decades of his life Japan had begun to turn
slowly but surely towards Occidental civilisation.
It is customary to speak of the restoration in 1867
as the period when this change of sentiment first
made itself distinctly manifest. But the calculation
is nearly a century late. Officialdom, indeed, still
adhered firmly to the traditional policy of seclusion
handed down from the days when the intemper-
ance of Christian propagandists and the jealousies of

VOL. vii. — 5 65

JAPAN

warring creeds lent to foreign intercourse a startling
and deterrent aspect. But in spite of officialdom,
with its iron rule and pitiless penalties, intrepid
reformers among the people stealthily studied Occi-
dental systems and with wonderful patience strug-
gled to emerge from the intellectual isolation to
which their country had been condemned for more
than two centuries. Watanabe was among these
pioneers. He fell under suspicion, and his pictures
helped to bear witness against him, — eloquent witness,
for the talent they displayed could scarcely fail to
popularise the heresy they represented. He received
the fatal order which every samurai was bound to
obey unflinchingly, — the order to commit suicide.
But his work survived. It would have been more
consistent with the heroic methods of those days had
every picture painted by him been burned, or buried
with his decapitated corpse. That extremity was not
resorted to, however, and on the fiftieth anniversary
of his death " new Japan " did homage to his mem-
ory by bringing together a large collection of his
works at the Reigan temple in Tokyo, and exhibiting
them for two days while the priests chaunted litanies
and recited masses for the repose of the ill-fated
painter's soul. At the edge of the dais supporting
the high altar lay an object of sad interest. It was
the sword with which Watanabe had committed
seppuku, and it rested on the same tray of white pine
from which the artist had taken it at the supreme
moment. Beside it was placed the document written
by him on the eve of the final act, — a simply worded
and brief confession that he had erred in the sight of
the law, and that his transgression involved the
further crime of taking the life which he owed to his

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ART

parents and ought to have preserved for their sakes.
A strangely sounding voice from the past must this
have seemed to many of those who had come to burn
incense at the painter's tomb, — men in whose mem-
ory the events of his last days were still fresh,
though the epoch itself might have been centuries
removed, so great a change had come over the politi-
cal complexion of the times. The collection of
Watanabe's works comprised many hundred pictures
and studies. Of some it would be difficult to speak
too highly. The combined vigour and delicacy of
their execution, the excellence of their composition,
and the life breathing from their lines showed that
the anti-foreign prejudices of his era inflicted few
heavier losses on the country than the untimely death
of such a master. It is not of the purely Japanese
pictures, however, that special mention should be
made in this context, but rather those showing traces
of Western influence. There are many such. The
subjects were not distinctly foreign, if some studies of
animal life be excepted ; but evidences that the artist
had imbibed the spirit of Occidental linear perspec-
tive and chiaroscuro were apparent in several pictures,
otherwise purely Japanese. This was notably true of
a portrait, half-life size, of a well-known Buddhist
priest. It might have been painted by a Western
artist, and would have done credit to any European
brush of Watanabe's era. Is it not easy to understand
the reason of the " want of receptivity" to which Dr.
Anderson alludes ? The penalty of being receptive
was out of proportion to the apparent reward.
Undoubtedly Hokusai felt the influence obeyed by
Kwazan with such fateful results. Many of the
works of the great ukiyo-ye master bear traces of

JAPAN

foreign methods. But he did not carry this tendency
to the length of attracting political censorship. He
showed it rather in the undefined though still palpa-
ble manner of the modern master Watanabe Seitei,
who enjoys in Europe and America the highest, though
not, perhaps, the most highly deserved, reputation of
any living Japanese artist. The hybrid school of the
present day, however, goes far beyond the dubious
adaptations of Hokusai or Seitei. It has proposed to
itself the same problem that Watanabe Kwazan par-
tially solved sixty years ago, — the problem of pre-
serving the characteristics of Japanese painting while
adopting all the technical teachings of the West.
Hashimoto Gaho stands at the head of this school.
He has talent sufficient to secure partial success for
any effort. But if there be any justice in the esti-
mate here set down of the distinctive characteristics
of Japanese pictorial art, the conclusion must be that
to marry it to the art of the West would be to deprive
it of its individuality, and therefore of much of its
charm.

Chapter II

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

First Period — From Early Times to the End of the Eighth Century

are proofs that the ancient Japanese
attached much importance to industrial occu-
pations. It is not possible, indeed, to speak
with confidence as to the quality of their
manufactures except in so far as the contents of burial
mounds convey information. But history seems to
indicate that the early settlers, the progenitors of the
Japanese proper, were an industrial people rather than
an agricultural ; for whereas the records are almost
silent on the subject of farming, they contain many
references to handicrafts. It would appear that the
whole of the people, apart from the administrative
and military classes, were engaged solely in industrial
pursuits, and that there existed a species of tribal
division founded on differences of occupation. Thus
the annals speaks of yuge-be (bow-makers) ; yahagl-be
(arrow-makers) ; tatenui-be (shield-stitchers) ; kura-
tsukuri-be (saddlers) ; ori-be9 hatorl-be and kinu-be
(weavers and tailors) ; ko-taukmi (carpenters) ; kanu-be
(blacksmiths) ; nuri-be (lacquerers) ; ishi-tsukuri (stone-
cutters) ; and hashi-be (bridge builders). The number
and variety of these organisations are alone sufficient
to imply a tolerably advanced state of industrial activ-
ity, although the skill possessed by the artisans can-

JAPAN

not have been of a uniformly high order. Occupa-
tions were hereditary, and it thus resulted that families
generally bore the names of the industries they prose-
cuted. Over each organisation a chief presided, his
title being Tomo-no-Miyatsuko (corporation master)
or Tomo-no-O (corporation head). But these artisans
evidently did not receive much public consideration.
They generally formed part of a noble's household,
and occupied there a position not greatly better than
that of vassals in whom their patrons enjoyed a right
of property. Not until the fifth century of the
Christian era were they released from this state of
bondage and granted the status of ordinary subjects.

The testimony of written records and that of relics
exhumed from sepulchres indicate that the Japanese
passed through two periods, a bronze age and an iron
age.1 As to the time when the former commenced,
it seems certain that the art of casting bronze, remote
as was its origin on the Asiatic continent, did not lie
within the knowledge of the aboriginal inhabitants
of Japan, but was brought thither by immigrants from
the mainland ; that is to say, by the progenitors of
the Japanese proper. It follows that the oldest
bronze castings in Japan do not date from a period
more remote than the sixth century, or, perhaps, the
seventh before the Christian era, and that no special
title to antiquity can be set up on their behalf as
compared with corresponding works in various other
countries.

On the other hand, if the Japanese cannot claim
any distinguished antiquity for their knowledge of
the art of bronze casting, they can certainly claim to
have escaped any period of art degradation such as that

1 See Appendix, note 10.

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

through which Europe passed after the destruction
of the Roman Empire. While Occidental nations
now in the van of civilisation were still awaiting the
impulse from Byzantium which in the middle of the
tenth century inspired their earliest achievements in
artistic metal work, the Japanese were busily produc-
ing many masterpieces of sculpture and metallurgy.
The continuity of her artistic capacity thus becomes
a notable feature of Japan's story. Her record is
practically unbroken, and the progress of her art
motives and methods can be studied in uninterrupted
series during some fifteen centuries.

Throughout a period of four or five hundred years
after the advent of the immigrants mentioned above,
bronze apparently continued to be the sole metal used
in the country, and the only purposes it served were
the manufacture of sword-blades and arrow-tips.
Many bronze swords have been found in the barrows
which formed the resting-places of the dead in those
early ages. They are straight, two-edged weapons,
some having a hilt of more or less elaborate work-
manship cast in one piece with the blade ; others
having hafts, or tangs, presumably for passing into
wooden hilts. These castings were made in stone
moulds, a few of which still survive in Japan, though
their antiquity is, of course, a matter of conjecture.1
Arrow-heads are found associated with the swords,
but no ornamental castings of any kind have been
discovered, and it may reasonably be conjectured that
none such existed.

From about the second century before the Chris-
tian era, iron began to be applied to purposes hitherto
served by bronze, and, at the same time, evidences

1 See Appendix, note 1 1 .

JAPAN

are afforded of a higher type of civilisation ; for not
only are the simple burial barrows of the first settlers
replaced by megalithic dolmens and highly special-
ised forms of chambered tumuli, but also a decora-
tive tendency is displayed in the application of thin
sheets of copper, coated with gold, to the handles of
swords and to the bits and trappings of horses. From
the time when the Japanese learned the uses of iron,
they abandoned bronze as a material for sword blades,
though they continued to employ it for casting arrow-
heads. Spears with iron heads were now added to
their weapons of war, and they began to cast bronze
mirrors (kagami) and small bells (suzu). Mirrors had
their origin abroad ; they came either from China
or Korea. The form of the imported specimens was
a circular disc, with or without a handle, the face
polished and quicksilvered, the back covered with
decorative designs in relief, the character of which
as well as the quality of the casting indicated a de-
gree of artistic and technical skill beyond immediate
attainment by the Japanese. But within a brief
period these foreign models were rivalled and even
surpassed by purely Japanese castings.

As for the bells of that early epoch, they are
peculiar objects, without any exact counterpart in
foreign countries, so far as is known. Hollow
spheroids, with a slight cut in the lower part, they
contained a piece of metal, or of some other hard
substance, to serve as a tongue ; and they were cast
in groups of three or five round the rim of a metal
plate, having a tang which served to attach it, as an
ornamental appendage, to horse trappings, ceremonial
robes, or hilts of swords, or to fasten it to a wooden
staff which was carried in the hand and shaken so as

.T>IA '-iO YTIllU 111 IT ''1O .TJTA1V, '/[3QOOW
• ViuJnao rin; :-luo2

WOODEN STATUE OF THE DEITY OF ART.

Sculptor unknown. End of eighth century.

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

to produce cymbal-like notes. These little bells were
often plated with gold, and occasionally they were
cast with a decorative design in relief. Their use as
pendants for ornamental purposes corresponds with a
similar employment of the well-known maga-tama
(bent jewels), or crescent-shaped pieces of steatite,
jasper, quartz, or other stones, which were attached
to garments, trappings, musical instruments, and sword-
hilts by the ancient Japanese, and of which numerous
specimens may be seen in any collection of Far
Eastern antiquities.

Among the early iron castings of Japan there are
objects whose use remains to this day uncertain. At
first sight they suggest the idea of bells, their shape
being that of a truncated pyramid, with two ribbon-
like flanges running up the sides and arched over
the top so as to afford a means of suspension. The
surface is usually divided by vertical and horizontal
bands in relief, and groups of circular discs protrude
from the flanges at regular intervals. There is
great variety of dimensions, some being as small as
an inch in height, others as large as five and one-half
feet ; in every case the thinness of the metal is re-
markable, — one-sixteenth of an inch, for example,
where the height of the object is fifty- four inches
and the diameter at the base twenty inches, — and
the workmanship indicates considerable skill. These
curious objects are found buried in the earth in the
provinces of Yamato, Kawachi, and Totomi, localities
which help to connect them with the early Japanese
immigrants. There are no indications that they
served as bells, and the great thinness of the metal
is in itself sufficient to preclude that theory. Since,
further, they belong to a period prior to the intro-

JAPAN

duction of Buddhism, they cannot be supposed to
have been part of temple paraphernalia. Perhaps the
most tenable supposition is that they served for the ex-
ternal decoration of the first buildings made in Japan
after Chinese models, having been suspended from
the corners of the eaves in the manner of the bell-
shaped pendants of pagodas. Already in the seventh
century of the Christian era they had become antiqui-
ties, and it seems natural to infer that the fashion,
architectural or otherwise, with which their employ-
ment was connected, went out of vogue in the first or
second century. Occasionally there are cast upon the
surfaces of these bells decorative designs indicating a
very crude stage of pictorial art ; for example, figures
even more rudimentary in outline than the conventional
sketches of ancient Egypt.

There is evidence that by the time of the Emperor
Nitoku (313—399) considerable skill had been developed
in the use of bronze, iron, and gold for decorative pur-
pose. Gold plating was applied with dexterity to
bronze and iron alike ; decoration not without deli-
cacy and grace appears upon the hilts of swords, and
cleverly conceived motives, modelled and chiselled
with ability, are seen upon the pommels, — motives
indicating that the artists of that early epoch had
passed the stage of merely copying natural objects
and had learned to conventionalise them. Helmets
formed of numerous thin iron plates riveted together
and overlaid with gold, had bands of incised orna-
mentation and peaks chiselled a jour, and were alto-
gether objects of fine workmanship, though the
incised ornamentation — conventionalised fishes, birds,
and animals, enclosed by borders of undulating lines
— showed very imperfect command of the graving-

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

tool, and gave no earnest of the remarkable ability
that Japanese artists were destined ultimately to dis-
play in this line. Reference must also be made to
delicate cable-pattern gold chains with leaf-shaped
pendants and pearl ornaments, objects of which the use
has not been clearly divined, though the generally re-
ceived idea is that they were suspended from the helmet.
It is thus seen that, on the whole, the Japanese metal-
worker of the fourth century was a handicraftsman
of no mean skill, though the applications of his art
had a narrow range.

The advent of Buddhism in the sixth century
introduced a new standard of art conception, though
commensurate attainment did not immediately fol-
low. After the year 552 religious statues began
to arrive from Korea in some numbers, and these,
as well as the bronze images modelled in Japan dur-
ing the next sixty or seventy years, show sculpture
which has not yet fully emerged from its primitive
stage. Not only are traces of the chisel shallow and
uncertain, but the facial expression of the deities and
their poses are mechanical and lifeless. It is easy to
see that the tools available were rudimentary, the
sculptor apparently being provided with nothing
better than a straight chisel. The relationship of
these statues to the rude stone-images of early and
mediaeval Japan is unmistakable. There is in both
alike the same geometrically formal disposition of
the drapery, offering no suggestion of the great skill
subsequently acquired by Japanese sculptors in the
representation of still life, and the method of con-
struction is that practised by the metal-workers of all
countries in the initial stage of their art, namely, cast-
ing or beating by the repousse process into the required

JAPAN

shape two thin plates of metal, one for the back, the
other for the front, of the projected figure, and sub-
sequently riveting them together at the edges. Many
examples of a similar style of workmanship are seen
in Korea, and confirmation is thus incidentally fur-
nished of the tradition which assigns to Korean
artists the credit of having been Japan's original
instructors in the sculpture of religious images. Yet
no name of any of these Korean teachers has been
preserved. The first sculptor mentioned in Japanese
annals is Shiba Tachito, a Chinese immigre, who is
said to have come to Japan in the year 560 A. D., and
to have received from the Emperor the title of kurat-
sukuri no obito, or head architect. His son, Shiba
Tasu-na, succeeded to the office, and it is recorded
that many sacred effigies were chiselled in wood either
by these artists thenselves or under their instruction.
They also superintended the building of Buddhist
temples which, though solid and imposing edifices,
did not, at that remote era, receive the wealth of
interior decoration in glyptic work, lacquering and
painting, for which Buddhist places of worship subse-
quently became remarkable. No authenticated speci-
mens of sculpture by either Shiba Tachi-to or Shiba
Tasu-na are now in existence, but from the time of
Shiba Tori, grandson of Shiba Tachi-to, credible exam-
ples survive. This sculptor, generally known as Tori
Busshi, attained extraordinary fame. His skill, which
seems to have completely overshadowed that of his con-
temporaries or predecessors, receives from posterity a
significant tribute, namely, that every fine carving
possessing any claim to great antiquity is habitually
ascribed to him by ignorant people, and some have
not even hesitated to regard him as the painter of

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

a fine example of mural decoration at the temple
Horyu-ji, though such a theory is untenable. His-
tory first speaks of Shiba Tori in connection with
three images which he carved in wood to order of
the Emperor Yomei, in the year 586 A. D. ; namely,
an effigy of Shaka, sixteen feet high, with two attend-
ant Bodhisattvas of smaller dimensions. These were
placed in a temple specially built for their reception
at Minabuchi, the temple and the images being an
offering to invoke heaven's healing grace for the sick
Sovereign. No vestige of these sculptures remains.
Shiba Tori is also said to have chiselled many wooden
images to order of the Emperor Yomei's son, Prince
Shotoku — remembered by posterity as Shotoku Taishi.
Shotoku never came to the throne. He filled the
post of regent during the reign of the Empress Suiko
(56 3—6 28). The earliest Japanese historiographer and
Buddhist commentator, he left an unequalled reputa-
tion for learning, piety, and statesmanship, and among
all the factors making for the spread of Buddhism in
that era, his influence had probably most efficacy.
Many sculptures in wood, said to be from his chisel,
are preserved at various places in Japan, but there is
reason to think that a majority of them are apocry-
phal. One, however, is regarded as authentic by
connoisseurs. It is a statue of Kwannon, the goddess
of mercy, six and a half feet high, its comparatively
defective technique redeemed by considerable grace
of pose and passionless refinement of feature. Shiba
Tori's work, of which fully authenticated examples
are preserved in the temple Horiu-ji, betrays greatly
inferior development of artistic instinct, his images
being squat, ill-proportioned, and deficient in dignity.
They are apparently Chinese modifications of Indian

JAPAN

types. Contrasted with these figures, Shotoku's Kwan-
non shows that already at this early period Japanese
genius had begun to break away from the mechanical
formalism of Korea. On the other hand, as might
be expected from the evidence of objects found in
dolmens, the decorative metal work of Prince Sho-
toku's time is of a more advanced character than the
sculptor's art. The halos of sacred effigies and the
ornaments attached to objects of temple furniture or
used for the decoration of the temples themselves,
show considerable skill in chiselling a jour as well as
in repousse, and the designs indicate an already advanced
conception of decorative motives as well as a just sense
of proportion and orderly arrangement. Notable
among illustrative specimens is a pendant of gilt
bronze destined originally to hang from the ceiling
of the temple Horiu-ji. It is 6.96 metres long, and
consists of six sections united by hinges, each section
having a pierced design of plants, flowers, clouds, and
emblems, the whole constituting a fine piece of
decorative work.

From the second half of the seventh century
progress became very marked, and, at the same time,
the character of the sculpture suggests emancipation
from Korean influence and closer approach to Chinese,
with evident elements of Indian style, as is under-
stood by recalling that China under the Tang dynasty
had very intimate relations with India. The history
of the epoch furnishes an explanation of these
changes, for it tells that Japan's intercourse with
China became altogether direct without any Korean
intervention. But although, on the one hand, the
sculptor evidently feels Indo-Grecian inspiration,
although the winged steeds and griffins of Assyria

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

make their appearance in decorative schemes, as do
also conventionalised plants and foliage, especially the
acanthus, and although the wide inter-relations of
Asiatic countries and their occasional contact even
with Greece and Rome find evident expression, on the
other hand, the realistic and grace-loving genius of the
Japanese begins to show itself very distinctly. Many
authenticated relics of the period survive. They
indicate a development of technical skill scarcely
credible by comparison with the rudimentary essays
of the preceding cycle, and they indicate also a con-
ception of majestic beauty wholly unpredicted by any
examples of earlier statuary, except, perhaps, the
Kwannon of Prince Shotoku. It is to this epoch
that posterity owes two groups of bronze statues
justly regarded with admiration. One is the three
Amidas of Koriu-ji ; the other Yakushi and his
two acolytes in the temple Yakushi-ji. Compara-
tively small figures, — 0.32 metre in height, — the
central effigy of the three Amidas is seated, the two
others stand on lotus flowers, the stalks of which
rise from a dais having for background a reredos on
which Buddhist figures are cast in medium relief.
This remarkably graceful and beautiful object is tech-
nically far superior to anything of the previous epoch,
and the majestically benign repose that pervades the
figures belongs to a high range of artistic conception.
It is known that these statues were executed by
order of Tachibana, spouse of the Emperor Tenchi
(668-671), but the name of their artist has not been
preserved. The Yakushi group is of even greater
excellence. Its central figure (Bhaichadjya-guru) —
4.25 metres in height — is seated on a dais, also of
bronze, the faces of which have demons cast in relief

JAPAN

and the borders are decorated with dragons, swans,
phoenixes, tortoises, serpents, and vine-scrolls. The
Sun and Moon effigies stand on either side. They
measure 3.94 metres with the lotus flowers that form
their pedestals. There is no question about the essen-
tially Grecian type of the faces of this group ; and
the spirit and vigour of the work show that the wave
of Occidental culture which flowed into China dur-
ing the period of the Six Dynasties reached Japan
also and found there more faithful interpreters than
those of China herself. A popular fallacy, endorsed
by more than one writer, describes the materials of
these figures as shakudo, — an ebony-like compound
peculiar to Japan, — but shakudo had not yet been
invented ; the images are of dark bronze.

The statues of this period are no longer composed
of two repousse plates fastened together at the edges :
they are cast by the cire-perdue process. In the pre-
ceding epoch earthen moulds were used, but the
Japanese had now become acquainted with the in-
comparably more effective method of a wax shell.
That alone constitutes a remarkable advance in tech-
nical knowledge, — an advance made, doubtless, under
Chinese instruction, — and the statues described above
show further that the users of the chisel had become
very skilled, all the details of the figures themselves,
of the drapery, and of the accessories being worked
out forcibly and with artistic feeling.

The only sculptors of this period whose names
are remembered are Oguchi, Kimara, Yakushi, and
Kanashi, but as none of their works has been identi-
fied, little interest attaches to the names.

Early Japanese sculpture reached its first culminat-
ing period in the eighth century ; that is to say, the

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

century immediately subsequent to the era of Tori,
Ouchi, Shotoku, and the unknown modellers of the
three Amidas and the Yakushi Trinity just described.
Among the masters who illumined this golden era
the names are recorded of Gyogi, a Buddhist priest
immortalised by his contributions to every branch of
material progress in his time ; Hien Wantsz, whose
nationality is uncertain, some calling him a Korean,
some an Indian, and some a Chinese ; Kimimaro, the
founder of a colossal effigy of Buddha, the well-
known " Nara Dai-Butsu," which stands in the tem-
ple Todai-ji ; the three artists, Takaichi Makuni,
Takaichi Mamaro, and Kakino Moto-no-Otoma, who
assisted Kimimaro in his great work, and finally,
two brothers, Keibunkai and Keibunkomi, generally
known in their time as the Kasuga sculptors, since
they came from a district called Kasuga-mura.

Speaking broadly, the eighth century is remem-
bered by Japanese students as the " Nara epoch,"
because the custom previously observed of changing
the capital with each change of sovereign was aban-
doned at the beginning of that century, and Nara
continued to be the residence of the Court through
seven generations. Comparatively little is known of
the Nara Palace, though many of the articles and
ornaments used by its inmates survive in a celebrated
collection which during nearly twelve hundred years
has been preserved in a storehouse connected with
the Shoso-in at that place. But some of the seven
massive and beautiful temples erected in the days of
the city's greatness stand still intact, and their graceful
proportions, together with the sculptures and paint-
ings they contain, speak eloquently of a refined and
even luxurious civilisation. Nothing is more re-

VOL. VII. 6 8 I

JAPAN

markable about the Nara epoch than the vigorous
growth of the Buddhist creed. Throughout the
reign of all the Sovereigns that held their Court
there, no expenditure was thought excessive in the
service of religion. All the artistic resources of the
time were devoted to the embellishment and furnish-
ing of the temples. The priests attached so much
importance to art as a means of appealing to the
emotional side of human nature, that several of the
greatest among them were themselves skilled painters
and sculptors, contributing even more to the material
and artistic development of their time than to its
moral elevation. It may, indeed, be truly said, that
the spread of Buddhism was synchronous with the
rise of art and science in Japan. Carpenters, from
the practice acquired in building temples, learned
how to construct large edifices ; sculptors and metal-
lurgists became skilful by casting or graving idols of
bronze, wood, and gold ; painting, decorative weaving,
the ornamentation of utensils, and the illumination
of missals owed their expert achievement to the pa-
tronage and instruction of Buddhist monks ; almost
the first real impetus given to the potter's art is
associated with the name of a priest, — in short,
nearly every branch of industrial and artistic de-
velopment stood more or less indebted to the in-
fluence of the creed. It is impossible to endorse
the verdict of Japanese critics when they hold Bud-
dhism responsible for decadence and retrogression
which in reality marked, not the evil effects of the
creed itself or of its propagandism, but a temporary
diminution of its beneficent influence. Many abuses
grew out of the arrogance, avarice, and ambition
of the priests towards the close of the Nara epoch,

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

but nothing could efface the work they had already
achieved.

In his conception of an ancient Japanese Imperial
city like Nara, the reader must not be guided by
Western models. He must not imagine a vast ag-
glomeration of buildings, warehouses, stores, theatres,
residences, hotels, and so forth, from which the Palace
is separated by its surrounding park. He must rather
conceive two entirely independent towns : the one
composed of lowly wooden cottages, clustered closely
together and sheltering an industrious, cheerful, but
profoundly humble population ; the other an assem-
blage of structures colossal by comparison, the temples
of the gods, looking out upon beautiful landscapes,
and sheltered by hills that slope softly downward to
crystal lakes, forest glades, and parterres of glowing
blossom. In this second, or sacred, city stood the
Palace, and the gulf that divided the quietly toiling ple-
beians in the one quarter from the nobles and courtiers
in the other was bridged only by the benevolence and
philanthropy of the Buddhist priests. To be pros-
perous in business here, to be relieved hereafter from
the pain of perpetual inferiority, — these were the
blessings that the commoner associated with piety,
while for the upper classes it meant successful sway,
victory in arms, and prosperity.

One notable result of this religious fervour was that
the sculptor's chisel found perpetual employment in
producing images for the seven great temples erected
at Nara and for other scarcely less important edifices
in the surrounding provinces. The art of sculpture
thus reached its apogee in fertility of conception and
beauty of execution. Hundreds of specimens survive
from the epoch, and it becomes possible to speak of

JAPAN

its productions with considerable confidence. The
proportions of the various figures, their attitudes and
their draperies show great fidelity of observation ; the
faces have a character of combined majesty and seren-
ity ; the technique is generally excellent, and the ar-
tists have succeeded in effecting a happy union of
idealism and realism. Wood carvings of really fine
type make their appearance now for the first time,
and the epoch is also remarkable not only for colossal
castings such as no other Oriental country has pro-
duced, but also for statues in clay and in dry lacquer.

The clay statues, sun-dried, not baked in a furnace,
were modelled on a wooden core wrapped in straw
which carried a coating of earth and boiled rice.
For the surface work the material employed was
potter's clay and talc, and to the finished figure
colours were applied. It is not improbable that the
idea of such a method was suggested by the cire-
perdue process of casting. But although very fine
results were obtained during the Nara epoch, model-
ling in clay was not much practised in later times,
and ultimately the fashion became limited to keram-
ists and puppet-makers.

The dry-lacquer process presented many difficul-
ties and demanded great care. Two methods are
described by Japanese writers. In one, the upper
part of the statue having been modelled in clay, a
hollow mould was taken from it, and into this was
poured a coating of fine lacquer destined to form the
outside of the figure. Into the interior, lacquer of
gradually increasing thickness was run in layers, and
the statue, having been ultimately drawn from the
mould, was overlaid with a composition of incense,
leaves, and bark of the Illicium religiosum (shikimt),

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

dried and reduced to powder, decayed earth from the
bed of a pond, and potter's clay. The head and torso
thus constructed were then fixed on a wooden frame
wrapped in cloth, and finally the arms and legs, hav-
ing been modelled independently, were fastened in
position with lacquer. The second method was much
simpler. In this the sculptor commenced by chisel-
ling a statue in wood, to which he applied a coat of
tolerably coarse lacquer, and then a layer of cotton
material, on which, finally, a coat of fine lacquer was
superposed. Delicate work was not possible by this
second process.

At the head of all the sculptures of the eighth cen-
tury it is usual to place a huge bronze image of
Lochana Buddha, known as the " Nara Dai-Butsu."
It certainly deserves that distinction in some respects,
for it is fifty- three feet high, and the difficulty of
making such a casting must have been immense.
But however beautifully proportioned the colossal
idol may have been originally, clumsy restorations in
the sequel of conflagrations and other accidents have
so marred it that it can no longer be compared with
many smaller examples of contemporary sculpture.
The intellectual energy and technical resources of the
artist that conceived and executed such a work com-
mand admiration, but the measure of artistic success
he attained is now a matter of conjecture only. Other
specimens of the time convey fuller information. A
series of clay statuettes preserved in the temple
Horyu-ji show, in a very marked degree, evidence
of the humour for which Japanese sculpture became
famous many hundred years subsequently ; humour
which is conspicuously absent in the works of China
and Korea alike. On a much higher plane of art,

JAPAN

however, stand four clay statues of the Deva Kings,
which are among the treasured relics of T6dai-ji.
Trampling on the demons they have subdued, the
faces of the four Devas display four different phases
of combat, from fierce defiance and strong effort to
stern resolve and calm triumph ; their attitudes are
modelled in consonance with these moods ; the details
of their armour and costume are skilfully rendered,
and their proportions betray no anatomical errors.
Even greater force of conception is attributed by
Japanese connoisseurs to a clay statue of Shikongd
(Vadjrapani), belonging also to the gallery of the
eighth century and kept in the same temple, Todai-ji.
This statue has suffered much from the effects of
time, and the condition of its right arm greatly im-
pairs the general effect ; but such as it is, it certainly
deserves much of the praise bestowed on it since the
public began to discover that early Japanese statuary
merits attention. Among eighth-century works in
dry lacquer, undoubtedly the most notable are the
Hokke-do Trinity, by the priest Roben. These
figures present a marked contrast to the four Devas
and the Shikongo mentioned above. Brahma and
Indra, whose effigies form the acolytes of the group,
are shown in an attitude of prayer, the expression
of the faces majestically and profoundly serene, and
even the folds of their garments modelled so as to
accentuate the idea of passionless piety. A wide
interval separated these figures from the conventional
Indian deity which threatened at first to impose its
type upon the Japanese sculptor. There is here
nothing whatever of the curiously modelled torso,
the massive sensuous cast of features, and the jewelled
tiara which some of the earliest Japanese sculptures

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

recall. The one fault is excessive breadth of shoulders
and consequent lack of grace. As to statues carved
in wood, the most celebrated is that of the Eleven-
faced Kwannon preserved in the temple Hokke-ji.
Nine of the eleven faces form a circlet for the head
of the goddess, and are divided into groups of three,
one group smiling, the second ironical, and the third
gentle ; and placed above them all is a somewhat
larger head breathing perfect calm. There has been
attributed to this statue extreme beauty of composi-
tion and execution ; but the very obvious faults of ill-
proportioned limbs, a squat figure, and somewhat
clumsily chiselled drapery disqualify the statue for
such applause. It shows, indeed, little superiority
to the bronze Kwannon of Yakushi-ji, cast about a
century earlier.

If any confident judgment may be based on the
articles in the Shoso-in collection, it would appear
that the applied art of Japan had already reached a
high stage of development in the eighth century.
The collection comprises more than three thousand
specimens, — bells, swords, mirrors, desks, musical
instruments, censers, objects of virtu, articles of cos-
tume, chess-boards, vases, glass utensils, tissues, paint-
ings, books, and reliquaries. Many of them exhibit
workmanship of remarkable delicacy and skill ; so
much so that a certain measure of credulity is required
on the part of any one attributing them to Japanese
artists and artisans. Yet when, in the year 756, the
Emperor Shomu donated a majority of these objects
to the temple Todai-ji, they were accompanied by a
list in which it was recorded that several swords and
screens were Chinese and that a reliquary and a screen
were Korean, the inference obviously suggested being

JAPAN

that all the rest were Japanese. If that deduction be
warranted, the Japanese of the eighth century could
do these things: they could sculpture metal deli-
cately and minutely, using a number of chisels and
burins, and thus showing a long step of progress from
the sixth-century time of few and ineffective imple-
ments ; they could inlay metals with mother-of-pearl
and amber ; they could apply cloisonne decoration to
objects of gold, the cloisons being of silver and some-
what clumsy ; they could work skilfully in lacquer,
black, and golden; they could encrust gold with jew-
els ; they could chisel metal in designs "a jour or in the
round, both with much skill ; they could cast bronze
by the dre-perdue process, showing detailed work as
clear as though it had been finished with the chisel ;
they could encrust wood with ivory, plain or col-
oured, and inlay it with mother-of-pearl, gold, or
silver ; they could weave rich brocades ; they could
paint decorative or pictorial designs on wood, over-
laying them with translucid varnish which preserved
the colours fresh for centuries ; and they could manu-
facture coloured glass. The difficulty which the
student encounters in assigning these beautiful objects
to Japanese artists is that in not one instance do the
decorative designs bear a purely Japanese character,
and that in many instances they are essentially Chi-
nese, Indian, or Persian. It is of course conceivable
that Japanese decorative artists may not yet have
emerged from the copying stage, and that they bor-
rowed motives frankly and faithfully from foreign
sources. But, on the other hand, if these objects had
been of native production, would the Nara Court
have placed them among the treasures of the princi-
pal temple? It seems more reasonable to believe

WOODEN STATUE OF MANJUSRI.

The renowned Bodhisattva. By Unkel. 1180-1220.

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

that they were rare articles of foreign provenance,
and that they indicate nothing beyond the refined
taste of the Japanese of that epoch.

Two specimens of art workmanship may, however,
be specially referred to as indisputably illustrative of
eighth-century Japanese skill. One is a gong framed
in the coils of four dragons, which rise from entwin-
ing a pillar poised on the back of a Dog of Fo, the
whole in bronze ; the other is a richly lacquered
drum, set in a frame of gilt bronze chiselled # jour
in a design of dragons and phoenixes, and surmounted
by a radiant sun. The Japanese obtained the dragon
and the Dog of Fo (sbisbi) from China, as well as
the idea of using the latter by way of pedestal ; but
there are points about this beautifully designed bronze
gong which prove its Japanese provenance, and the
central decorative scheme on the lacquered drum —
a triple combination of the male and female princi-
ples — is essentially Japanese. To the makers of such
objects a high degree of artistic and technical attain-
ment must be conceded, though there is not sufficient
reason to credit them with the varied exercise of skill
shown by the Shoso-in specimens.

Among Japanese commentators and antiquarians
there is a tendency, followed by several foreign
students also, to detect strong traces of Chinese and
Korean influence in the works described above, and
even to attribute some of the best of them to Korean
or Chinese sculptors. But before accepting such a
theory this question has to be answered : If a Korean
or a Chinese expert working in Japan before the close
of the eighth century was capable of modelling fig-
ures like the four Deva Kings and the Brahma of
Todai-ji, why did none of the numerous Chinese and

JAPAN

Korean sculptors who worked to meet the demands
of the Buddhist religion in their own countries, suc-
ceed in producing a single masterpiece comparable
with these effigies ? Tradition is so confident about
the debt owed by Japan's artists to the neighbouring
continental countries that the broad fact may not be
doubted, especially as there are internal evidences of its
partial truth. But the amount of the borrowing is
open to query. It is contrary to the suggestions of
reason or the teachings of precedent that countries
supposed to have been the parents and teachers of a
particular art as well as the fields of its earnest exercise
through long centuries, should not be able to show
any products of that art corresponding with the
admirable examples attributed to their emigrant ex-
perts working under alien patronage in a neighbouring
island. Such was not the case in the field of picto-
rial art, nor yet in that of keramics, nor yet in that of
textile fabrics, and the apparent inference with regard
to sculpture is that, though the Japanese obtained tech-
nical instruction from their continental neighbours,
and motives from the creed which the latter were in-
strumental in propagating, their own genius soon car-
ried the practice of the art beyond the range of
Chinese or Korean conception.

Before pursuing the historical sequence of the
development of the sculptor's art in Japan, some
special subjects must be briefly discussed.

The chiselling of stone images was practised by
the Japanese from an early period of their art history,
but it does not seem possible to determine with even
approximate accuracy the date when this class of work
had its origin. Nor is there much to encourage
research. Japanese sculptures in stone have always

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

been of very mediocre quality, not for an instant
supporting comparison with the studies in marble
bequeathed to the world by the ancient Greeks.
Should time have in store for Japan vicissitudes such
as overtook the prehistoric world of the West, it is
not difficult to imagine that some race of explorers,
thirty or forty centuries hence, discovering the stu-
pendous masonry and the huge granite blocks of the
Tokyo and Osaka castles, may draw an inference
similar to that suggested by the ruins of Tirynth and
its sister cities of Argolis, and may conclude that
Japan was once inhabited by a race of giants. But
they certainly will not find anything to suggest that
the men who applied granite to such colossal uses
understood the value of the imperishable material
suggested by Nature herself as a medium for trans-
mitting artistic conceptions to posterity. The most
reasonable explanation of the inferiority shown by the
Japanese in this respect is that the quality of the stone
generally available in their country defied any fine
exercise of glyptic skill. Japan is not without stores
of good marble, which are now beginning to be suc-
cessfully utilised for purposes of sculpture. But in
remote ages their existence does not appear to have
been suspected, and the artist, being supplied only
with granite and coarse sandstone, was not encouraged
to attempt work inconsistent with the quality of the
material. Some critics maintain, indeed, that the
technical difficulties attending sculpture in stone
proved insuperable to the Japanese. But such a
theory can scarcely be reconciled with the singular
ability they showed in bringing still more refractory
substances within artistic control. Further, the evi-
dence furnished by their ancient tombs shows that, in

JAPAN

times as remote as the beginning of the Christian
era, they knew how to hew stones and join them
into the forms of sarcophagi, so perfect in shape that
some of them, when exhumed in later epochs, were
regarded as palanquins in which demigods had
ridden, or as boats in which they had sailed the seas
during the age of Japan's government by divine
beings. Still more conclusive proof of ability to
fashion stone into given shapes is afforded by objects
for personal adornment found in these tombs, — carved
jewels (maga-tama} of agate or jadeite; tubular jewels
{kuda-tama) of light green stone; hexagonal jewels
( kiriko-dama ), and triple-ring jewels ( mitsuwa-dama )
of quartz ; and already in the fourth century of the
Christian era, one of the sections of artificers em-
ployed by the Government had the name of Tama-
tsukuri-bey or sculptors of ornamental minerals. In
the face of these facts it is impossible to doubt that
the cutting, shaping, and polishing of stone fell well
within the competence of Japanese artisans in very
early times, and that had they recognised it as a
material suitable for sculpturing objects of high art,
technical difficulties would not have deterred them.

In China and Korea the custom of erecting huge
memorial tablets of marble or granite existed in
ancient ages. But the Japanese were slow to adopt
it, and never reconciled themselves to the use of orna-
mental sculpture on such objects. History contains
a poem attributed to that personage of somewhat
apocryphal achievements, the Empress Jingo (201-
269 A. D. ), in which words occur indicating apparently
that a stone monument was set up to the deity Sukuna.
But the first unequivocal record of stone sculpture is
found in the annals of the Emperor Keitei's reign

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

(507-531 A. D.), when there flourished in Chikushi
a local magnate remarkable for his extravagant style
of life and ultimately for rebelling against the Imperial
authority. It is stated that he adopted the Chinese
custom of causing a grand tomb to be erected for
himself, and that he collected a number of skilled
workers in stone for the purpose. Encircling and
guarding the tomb were placed sixty stone effigies of
warriors each seven feet high and each with a stone
shield planted beside him. In a recess on the south
of the tomb a figure was set up representing a judge,
before whom a naked culprit kneeled to receive
sentence for stealing four wild-boars, which also were
sculptured in the same material, and close at hand
stood three horses with a background of two stone
edifices. Some traces of this elaborate monument
remain, but even in their complete absence the record
is sufficiently explicit to show that the chiselling of
natural objects in stone was understood at that remote
time, though the manner of applying the art was alien,
and its products were probably very crude. Moreover,
after the abolition of the barbarous customs of bury-
ing alive the chief vassals of a prince or noble at the
time of his interment, — a reform effected at about
the commencement of the Christian era, — images
of stone were sometimes used as substitutes for these
living sacrifices, though in ordinary cases rudely
shaped effigies of sun-dried clay were deemed suffi-
cient. Excavations recently made near the tumulus
of the Emperor Kimmei (540-571 A. D.) brought to
light a number of stone images of men and animals,
and similar objects have been found buried at other
places under circumstances which suggest great antiq-
uity. But not one of the specimens hitherto found

JAPAN

indicates that the sculptor aimed at beauty of form or
accuracy of proportion, and it need scarcely be added
that none of them had any direct connection with
religious rites, for the deities of the Shinto cult, which
alone prevailed in Japan in those times, were never
represented in effigy. In comparatively modern eras,
when it became the habit to erect over the resting-
places of the dead handsome bronze monuments and
to surround them with stone fences, the chisels of
great glyptic artists were sometimes employed to cut
upon the pedestals of these monuments, or on the
panels of gates giving access to their enclosures, scenes
of religious import, such as the entry of Buddha into
Nirvana or episodes from the careers of the Arhats.
But these were quite exceptional applications of
glyptic art.

The use of stone for sculpturing Buddhist idols
commenced in the reign of the Emperor Bidatsu
when (585 A. D.) two envoys whom he had sent to
Korea brought back a stone effigy of the Buddhist
deity, Miroku. From that time, whenever images
had to be erected in the open air, stone seems to
have suggested itself as a suitable material, and the
traveller in Japan often sees, set up by the roadside
or enshrined at the elbow of a mountain track, little
stone images of Jizo (K'shitigarbha), the protecting
deity of wayfarers, the gentle god who encourages
unhappy children in purgatory to pile up pebbles un-
til the heap shall be high enough to raise them to
the plains of the blessed. Scarcely less frequent are
effigies of foxes seated on pedestals before the rustic
shrine of Inari, the god of food, where the peasant
prays for rich harvests. But none of these objects
deserves attention as a specimen of sculpture. They

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

are mere suggestions. Eloquence of form did not
enter into the thought of the humble mason that
hewed them, nor, indeed, did their purpose or their
surroundings usually encourage any fine effort of
art.

The perception of the Japanese is nothing if not
congruous. He has an instinctive sense of the fitness
of things within his own range of experience, and it
would seem to him a solecism to erect a delicately
chiselled, elaborately ornamented image among the
mosses and shadows of a forest or the dust and con-
tamination of a roadside. When, however, a stone
carving was destined to form part of the entourage
of an important temple or mausoleum, greater care
was bestowed on its modelling. It then usually took
the form of the Kara-shishi (Chinese lion, i. e. Dog
of Fo), to which the Japanese sculptor often succeeds
in imparting an aspect of much vigour and vitality.

The Emperor Gotoba, in the year 1187, had a
pair of stone shishl chiselled to stand inside the inner
gate of the temple Todai-ji at Nara, and effigies of
two Bodhisattvas and the four Heavenly Kings, also
in stone, to stand within the building. It is recorded
that he entrusted the execution of this work to a
Chinese sculptor, Lo Ku, who was assisted by three
Japanese. Lo pointed out that the stone procurable
in Japan was not fitted for the purpose of fine sculp-
ture, and the Emperor caused stone to be imported
from China at a cost of about ^£3,000.

There are preserved in a cave at the back of the
temple Nippon-ji, in Awa province, fifty-three stone
effigies of Buddhas, said to have been sculptured in the
days of the Emperors Shomu (724—748 A.D.) and Hei-
zei (806-809 A. D.), and these were supplemented, in

JAPAN

T775» ky a thousand figures, namely, five hundred
Buddhas and five hundred Arhats, the whole consti-
tuting the most numerous assemblage of stone images
in Japan. Many other ishi-botoke, as a stone Buddha
is called, may be seen here and there throughout the
country, but the general verdict with regard to them
all is that they cannot be described as objects of art.
The experience of the Emperor Gotoba shows that
want of good stone was fatal to the development of
sculpture in that material, and in any case it is not
improbable that the Japanese glyptic artist would al-
ways have preferred metal and wood, as better adapted
to the wooden temples he was invited to people with
images. Indeed this latter consideration may have
been paramount. It is easy to conceive that had the
Parthenon been constructed with pine or the temples
on the Acropolis of Selinus with oak, posterity would
not have inherited marble pediments or tufa metopes.
Mirrors are among the concrete evidences from
which knowledge is derived of the ability of early
Japanese workers in metal. These objects are usually
simple castings without any trace of the chisel.
They possess much value in the eyes of Japanese
dilettanti, who regard them as among the oldest
examples of their country's artistic metal work.
From the description already given of the curious
bell-shaped iron castings found under conditions
which refer them to a period more remote than the
beginning of the Christian era, the reader will have
derived the impression that grace of form and a meas-
ure of decorative effect were contemplated and
achieved by Japanese metal-founders even at that
remote time. That impression is confirmed by the
mirrors preserved in many Japanese collections of

AYHd KOOM JIHT 1O 3UTAT3

BRONZE STATUE OF THE MOON DEVA (GEKKO).

In the Templa Yakushl-ji at Nara. Sculptor unknown. End of seventh century.

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

antiquities ; they indicate a decorative sense by no
means rudimentary on the part of their makers
and users. Many of the mirrors thus preserved
are unquestionably Chinese, and others are frank
copies of Chinese models, while all are so much alike
that doubts have been raised as to the possibility of
distinguishing their provenance, or of confidently
attributing any of them to Japanese workers. That
objection might be serious had there not been found
in ancient Japanese tombs mirrors having attached to
their circumference bells of the bivalve, tongueless
kind peculiar to Japan, whereas nothing similar has
ever been found in China or Korea. It may there-
fore be assumed that ability to manufacture such
objects existed at an early date in Japan, though the
source of inspiration was doubtless Chinese. Briefly
described, the mirror was a bronze disc, having one
side polished or quick-silvered as a reflector and the
other ornamented with designs in relief.1 The
metal varied considerably in composition. Its prin-
cipal ingredients were copper and tin, the former
constituting from seventy-five to ninety-five per cent,
the latter from twenty-three to one-half per cent.
Lead was frequently present, with occasional mixture
of silver and traces of gold.

From the remarkable cleanness of casting shown
by some of these mirrors, it has been inferred that
the cire-perdue process was employed by their makers.
But that is exceedingly doubtful. As to the reflecting
surface, though probably obtained at first by polishing
alone, it soon came to be coated with an amalgam of
tin and quicksilver, and as Japan had no quicksilver
of her own, she must have had recourse to China, or

1 See Appendix, note 12.

VOL. VH. — 7 n

JAPAN

to Korea, China's pupil. The same information is
furnished by the gilding and silvering found on cop-
per plates which formed decorative adjuncts of sword-
hilts and horse-trappings from the beginning of the
iron age (200 B. c.). Hence it may be affirmed on
the evidence furnished by relics of art industry that,
in the first or second century before the Christian era,
Japan was in contact with Chinese or Korean civili-
sation, and that she learned from one of her continen-
tal neighbours the process of obtaining reflective
surfaces by means of mercury.1

The Japanese mirror attracted much attention
at one time among foreigners, owing to a curi-
ous property it sometimes possessed, namely, that
the pattern on the back was reflected by the
polished surface in front. The effect was best
seen by double reflection, — that is to say, when
light cast on the surface of the mirror was reflected on
some other flat surface. So strange did this feature
seem that it received the epithet " magical," and for
many years it was considered the " correct thing "
that every collector should include a Japanese " magic
mirror " among his treasures. Of course the Japan-
ese themselves knew that their mirror possessed this
property, but they did not understand it and did not
indulge in many conjectures about a phenomenon
which seemed inexplicable. So soon, however, as the
scientist of the West approached the problem, he dis-
covered a simple solution. It is a structural accident.
When a mirror, laid face upwards, is subjected to
pressure by the hand of the artisan polishing its sur-
face, it necessarily rests on the salient points of the
arabesque or other design that decorates the reverse,

1 See Appendix, note 13.

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

and the portions of the face lying in the interstices of
these points become more or less depressed, so that
light falling on the surface is broken up and unevenly
reflected. Dr. Anderson has suggested that the
" magical " feature has another explanation ; namely,
that the contraction of the fused metal when cooling
in the mould was influenced by the comparative
thickness or thinness due to the convexities and con-
cavities of the pattern. That is probable enough,
but it has been demonstrated by experiment that the
property in question can be produced at will, by a
process founded on the former theory. The Japan-
ese, whether manufacturers or users of these mirrors,
never regarded their freaks of reflection as an admira-
ble quality, and Western virtuosi might wisely adopt
the same attitude towards the phenomenon.

Japan's temple bells deserve notice for many rea-
sons, — not the bell-like objects of thin cast iron
found buried in the ground in certain provinces,
objects whose purpose has never been clearly as-
certained, but the bronze bells actually used as such
from the eighth century onward. The metallic
voices that summon worshippers in the West can
seldom be counted sounds of gentleness and harmony.
Even cathedral carillons of Europe and America
have too often a clash and a clang little suggestive of
" the peace that passeth understanding." But the
tsuri-gane (suspended bell) of Japan gives forth a voice
of the most exquisite sweetness and harmony — a
voice that enhances the lovely landscapes and seascapes,
across which the sweet solemn notes come floating
on autumn evenings and in the stillness of summer's
noonday hazes. The song of these bells can never
be forgotten by those that have once heard it. Their

JAPAN

notes seem to have been born amid the eternal restful-
ness of the Buddhist paradise, and to have gathered,
on their way to human ears, echoes of the sadness
that prepares the soul for Nirvana. Some of them
are giants among bells. The Sanjusangen-do in
Kyoto, where stand the 33,333 images of the Goddess
of Mercy, has a bell fourteen feet high, nine feet in
diameter, ten and three-fourths inches thick, and
weighing fifty-six tons. It was cast in the beginning
of the seventeenth century. At the temple Chion-in,
in the same city, there is a bell ten feet ten inches
high, nine feet in diameter, nine and one-half inches
thick, and weighing forty-three tons. It was cast in
the year 1633. Still older than either of these — the
oldest bell in Japan indeed — is that of Todai-ji at
Nara. Cast in 732 A. D., it is twelve feet nine inches
high, eight feet ten inches in diameter, ten inches
thick, and its weight is forty-nine tons. At innu-
merable places throughout the country, bells of
smaller but still noble proportions toll the passing
hours or summon the people to special services. But
they are never heard at funerals. The glory and
credit of having cast these wonderful bells belong
exclusively to the Japanese, for though they took the
shape originally from China, they soon surpassed her
in the size and quality of their castings. Peking
boasts a bell cast in 1406, by order of the great Ming
Emperor Yung-lo. It was long supposed to be the
biggest bell in the world by persons ignorant of
the Tsar Kolokol and its smaller sister at Moscow.
The Peking bell weighs fifty-three tons, and is there-
fore four tons heavier than the Nara bell, but the
latter was cast six hundred and seventy-four years
earlier than the former. The second biggest bell of

100

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

China — that of Nanking — weighs only twenty-two
tons, a size reached and surpassed by numerous bells
in Japan. Dimensions apart, however, there is abso-
lutely no comparison in the matter of beauty and
grandeur of tone between the bells of China, the
teacher, and those of Japan, the pupil. In what
kind of esteem the notes of a really fine bell are held
by the Japanese may be gathered from the fact that
among the " Eight Beauties " (Hak-kei\ of the cele-
brated Lake Biwa, the sound of the evening bell of
Mii-dera stands fourth. Some have sought the secret
of the Japanese bell's sweetness in the method of
ringing ; that is to say, not with a clapper, — metal
clashing against metal, — but with a beam of wood
swung horizontally so as to strike a boss on the outer
surface of the bell. That may contribute to the
result, but cannot, of course, be the reason of it. An
eminent writer, discussing the bells of Europe, says
that as celebrated violins — an Amati or a Stradivarius
— are the outcome of innumerable experiments, ex-
tending over centuries, so the " perfect " bells of
Holland, cast by the masters of the sixteenth and
seventeenth centuries, " disengaged themselves after
ages of empirical trials as the true models, and
supplied the finished type for all succeeding bell-
workers." The rules thus evolved and still implicitly
obeyed were that the metal should be a mixture of
copper and tin in the proportion of 4 to i, that the
thickness of the bell's edge should be one-fifteenth of
its diameter, and that its height should be twelve
times its thickness. Every one of these rules was
ruthlessly violated by the founders of Japanese bells.
As to the composition of the bell metal, there does
not seem to have been any accurate formula. The

101

JAPAN

great Todai-ji bell is said to have been made of cop-
per and tin in the proportion of 36 to i, but the
record is probably an approximation only. It is at
all events certain that no care was taken to maintain
any hard-and-fast ratio of mixture in later times.
The casting of a temple bell constituted a species of
festival. People thronged from all parts of the parish,
carrying offerings, mirrors, and other metal orna-
ments, which were thrown into the melting-pots
without any question as to the nature of the metal
composing them. Not infrequently copper coins
supplied the chief, if not the only, material. Thus,
for a bell cast at Kamakura in the thirteenth cen-
tury, 330,000 coins were used. Mr. Gowland's
analysis of the old copper coins of Japan shows their
composition to have been, copper, 77.30; tin, 4.32;
lead, 15.33; arsenic, 1.14; antimony, 0.31; iron,
i.oi ; silver, 0.06 ; sulphur, 0.52, and gold a trace, —
a compound very unlike the ideal bell-metal of the
European experts. With regard to dimensions, three
of the big bells of Japan give the following figures : —

Todai-ji bell, — thickness, one-tenth of diameter ;
height, 15^ times the thickness.

Kyoto Dai-Butsu bell, — thickness, one-tenth of
diameter; height, 15^ times the thickness.

Chion-in bell, — thickness, one-eleventh of diam-
eter ; height, 13^ times the thickness.

The first two of these bells seem to suggest a
definite rule of ratios, but the third upsets the idea
altogether, and all depart widely from the principles
of the Dutch experts. In section Japanese bells
show a shape different from that of European bells.
The former have the rim thickened internally, so that
the mouth is slightly restricted, and to that construction

IO2

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

has been attributed the gentle rising and falling tone
of their boom. It would be curious if experiments
should prove that this simple device sufficed to secure
results which European bell-founders were at such
pains to achieve by accurate composition of metal
and strict ratios of dimensions. That the Japanese
could not only produce a monster bell of magnificent
tone, but were also able to manufacture bells having
their consonants in musical sequence, is proved by
sixteen bells preserved at Nikko. Rein writes of
these bells that, although exactly alike externally in
form and size, they yield distinctly and with the
finest effect all the notes of two octaves. It is quite
conceivable, however, that these bells were cast in
accordance with rules obtained from the Dutch traders
at Deshima. No similar bells are found elsewhere in
Japan.

The form adopted for the hanging bells of Japan
has always been, approximately, that known as " mitre-
shaped " in mediaeval Europe. Elaborate ornamenta-
tion of the surface was not resorted to in the case
of large bells. They sometimes carry lines of ideo-
graphs cast in low relief, — verses from the sutras,
Chinese apothegms, or more or less detailed lists of
the names of the donors of the bell and the date of
casting, — and in rare cases they have medallions
of dragons or phoenixes. Small bells, however, are
often elaborately decorated with kylin, shishi (dogs
of Fo), figures of angels (ten-jin), and long inscrip-
tions in prose or poetry.

Those that have any knowledge of the difficulties
connected with bell hanging in Europe and America,
of the trouble of oscillating towers and defective
leverage, will be curious to hear how the Japanese

103

JAPAN

hang the monster bells spoken of above. It is a very
simple process. The bell is suspended from a low
framework of powerful timbers, the uprights leaning
slightly towards cross-beams connecting their upper
ends. Slung by ropes or chains in an independent
framework is a massive beam which oscillates horizon-
tally, and is adjusted so as to strike full and square on
the boss of the bell. These unpretentious belfries
make no claim to architectural beauty or structural
grandeur. The bell is everything. It hangs fully
en Evidence, nothing being suffered to dwarf its pro-
portions or interfere with its notes.

The " gong," which alike in name and conception
is of purely Chinese origin, was manufactured from a
very early date in Japan. Chinese metallurgists under-
stood, and taught the Japanese how to temper and
anneal bronze, which, when suddenly cooled from a
cherry-red heat, becomes sufficiently soft for easy
manipulation, and can afterwards be hardened by
reheating and slow cooling. The commonest kind
of gong is the well-known discoid, with a rounded
central boss ; but another form, called the " alligator's
mouth " (wani-guchi], is familiar to every temple-
goer. It consists of two discoids, strung together so
that a wide aperture separates them. A third kind
of gong is hemispheroidal, — a bowl of beaten metal,
which, instead of being suspended like the wani-guchi
or the ordinary gong (dora), is insulated by being
placed on a cushion. This variety goes by the name
of kin or rlny the former appellation being given to
the larger sizes. There is finally the kei9 a ^-shaped
plate of bronze, suspended from the apex. All these,
with one exception, are beaten with a short stick
having a leather-covered pad at one end. The ex-

104

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

ception is the " alligator's mouth." It hangs in the
vestibule of temples and shrines, and is sounded by
means of a thick rope which hangs in contact with
its surface, and is swung against it by worshippers to
attract the presiding deity's attention. It cannot be
said that the Japanese developed any remarkable skill
in the manufacture of these objects. The kin often
emits a prolonged musical note, tender and soft, and
Japanese connoisseurs of sound make enthusiastic
distinctions between one kei and another as to timbre
and purity of voice ; but it does not appear that the
manufacture of these objects ever made any special
claim on the attention of experts. In the matter of
gongs there can be no doubt that Korea stands far in
advance of Japan. Neither country, however, pos-
sesses a large supply of fine gongs. Long and patient
search for such treasures may often prove fruitless.
But if the searcher is so happy as to find a Korean
gong of the best type, — and he is just as likely to
find it in Japan as in Korea, — he has an instrument
of grand sounding capacities, which sends forth wave
after wave of complex vibrations, mellow, sonorous,
and sweet.

105

Chapter III

JAPANESE APPLIED ART (Continued)

Second Period — From the Ninth to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century

WITH the transfer of the capital from Nara
to Kyoto, at the close of the eighth
century, began the Heian epoch, marked
at the outset by the founding of large
monasteries, especially those of Hiyei and Koya, and
by the spread of esoteric Buddhism. This was the
time when the Tang dynasty of China, ruling an
empire that touched the boundaries of Persia and
included Korea, Mongolia, and Tartary, developed a
civilisation such as Asia had never previously wit-
nessed in historical eras, and furnished models of
literature, art, and administration which the eclectic
genius of Japan was not slow to adopt. Yet the
early part of the epoch did not produce any remark-
able sculptures. The tendency of the artist was to
devote attention solely to the ensemble of his statues,
and to sacrifice accuracy of form on the altar of
idealism. Japanese connoisseurs ascribe this tendency to
the influence of esoteric Buddhism. Sculpture, they
say, falling entirely into the hands of the priests or
passing under their control, aimed uniquely at giving
outward expression to the moral attributes associated
with each divinity, and paid little attention to ana-
tomical accuracy or technical excellence. Thus the

1 06

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

ninth century and a great part of the tenth are dis-
tinguished as a period of amateur work, when reli-
gious zealots, insufficiently instructed in the art of
sculpture, modelled statues with majestic and beau-
tiful faces, but neglected truth of proportion and
decorative accessories. Emergence from that imper-
fect conception of artistic purpose was due to Kosho,
who worked at the close of the tenth century, and
above all to his son Jocho, whose genius made the
beginning of the eleventh century one of the most
notable epochs of Japanese sculpture. There is a curi-
ous resemblance at this point between the history of
pictorial art and that of sculpture in Japan. In the
former, Kawanari, the immediate predecessor of Kana-
oka, figures as a great painter, the first really great
painter of his country, and the originator of an art im-
pulse which culminated, some sixty years later, in the
celebrated Kanaoka. But none of Kawanari's typical
pictures survive, and Kanaoka's skill also is known
by tradition only. So in sculpture the annals speak
of Kosho as the leader of a renaissance carried to a
high altitude immediately afterward by Jocho. But
there are no specimens of Kosho's work, and the
greatest of Joch5's perished almost immediately after
their completion. What these men achieved for art
was to add virility to the idealism of their immediate
predecessors, and to insist upon accuracy of propor-
tion, skill in the use of the chisel and the attainment
of decorative effect. Living in a time of excessive
refinement and voluptuousness, their style necessarily
reflected something of this mood. Thus the bodies
of their figures are full, and the contours rounded ;
the faces are circular rather than oval, the eyebrows
are finely pencilled, and the folds of the drapery soft

107

JAPAN

and flowing. It remained for the sculptors of a later
era to rescue the art from these traces of effeminacy
and carry it to its point of culmination. To Jocho
and his school, however, belongs the credit of having
clearly indicated the route along which their coun-
try's artists were to travel to greatness. Of the kind
of work that Jochb was privileged to execute an idea
is furnished by annals describing the temple Hojo-ji,
built by the celebrated Fujiwara Regent Michinaga.
Upon the statues for that edifice, unfortunately de-
stroyed by fire thirty-seven years after its completion,
Jocho expended the efforts of a lifetime. The prin-
cipal idol, an effigy of Dainichi Nyorai sitting upon a
hundred-petalled lotus, measured thirty-two feet in
height ; and grouped about it were a Shaka, twenty
feet high, and numerous other figures nine feet in
height. All these were in wood covered with gild-
ing. In each of the five great halls stood a Fudo,
twenty feet high, and four statues of Taison, sixteen
feet in height. In the Amida hall were nine gilded
statues of Mida, each sixteen feet, and the Shaka hall
was peopled by a hundred effigies of the Buddha.
There was, indeed, no lack of employment for the
religious sculptors of that superstitious era. The four
Emperors Shirakawa, Horikawa, Toba, and Shutoku
(1071 to 1141) built six great and many small
temples, and the sculptors Ensei, Ch5en, Inkaku,
Kenyen, Kojo, and Incho filled them with statues.
But it will readily be conceived by any student of
Japanese history that art could not escape the influ-
ences which carried society to the extreme of sensu-
ous luxury in the closing years of the Fujiwara
epoch. By degrees the sculptor, abandoning the
virile style of the Jocho school, made delicacy and

108

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

refinement his chief aims, and by excessive striving
after grace, fell into effeminacy and pettiness. To
his demons as well as to his divinities he gave a mien
soft as that of an infant, delicate as that of a woman,
and even his monsters looked benign and gentle.
Following also the example of the Sung artists of
China, he sought extreme elaboration of detail and
magnificence of decoration, so that some of his effigies
became dazzling coruscations of gold and gems.
The contrast between Jocho's style and that of the
artists at the close of the Fujiwara (or Heian) epoch
is well illustrated by the great sculptor's statues of the
Four Deva Kings, preserved in the Hokuyendo at
Nara, and the Senju Kwannon (many-handed Kwan-
non) preserved in the temple Chomei-ji.

Kosho, Jocho, and their descendants and chief
pupils are generally known as the " Nara Buss hi" or
" Buddhist sculptors of Nara," though they lived in
Kyoto, and though most of their best work was exe-
cuted for temples in Kyoto or in localities remote
from Nara. They are also spoken of as "Masamune
no Busshi" the prefix " Masamune " being intended
to indicate that they exhibited as sculptors talent not
inferior to that of Masamune as a swordsmith. The
names of the best-remembered sculptors of the Heian
epoch are : —

780 TO 950

Enso Koun priest).

Tari-maro Kobo Daishi (priest).

Takao-maro Dengyo Daishi (priest).

Ko-maro Shisho Daishi (priest).

960 TO 1185

Eshin (priest) 960

Kansei 970

109

JAPAN

Kosho (987-1011).

Jocho.

Kakujo.

Raijo. Injo.

Kojo. Inkaku. Incho.

•£. i

Kocho. Inson.

N. B. — Jocho received the art title of Hbkyo (bridge of the law),
being the first sculptor to be so honoured. His most illustrious
descendants had the same title. They worked in the Seventh Avenue
(Shichijo) of Kyoto, and were consequently termed the " Seventh
Avenue Academy."

Seicho.

Chosei (pupil of Seicho).

Ensei.

r^ "~~"\

Chuen. Choen. Kenyen.

Choshun.

N. B. — Chosei had the art title of Hoin. He and his descendants
worked in the Third Avenue (Sanjo) of Kyoto, and were called the
" Third Avenue Academy."

Ganku (priest). Myojun (priest).

From the time of the establishment of military
feudalism (i 192) by Yoritomo at Kamakura until the
days (1580) of Hideyoshi, an interval of nearly four
centuries, may be regarded as the Kamakura epoch
from the point of view of the sculptor's art, and may
also be regarded not only as the greatest period of the

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

art, but also as the final era of vigorous originality in
religious sculpture. The greatest masters of the time
are generally said to have been Kwaikei and his pupil
Unkei, but undoubtedly the finest surviving specimen
of sculpture in wood is from the chisel of Jokaku, a
pupil of Unkei, and among all Japanese sacred effi-
gies in bronze, the noblest and most majestic is the
Dai-Butsu of Kamakura, modelled and cast by Ono
Goroyemon in the year 1252. When Kwaikei and
Unkei began to work, the samurai had become the
nation's type of admirable manhood, the bushido was
regarded as comprising all the canons of chivalrous
morality, and the doctrines of the Zen sect of Bud-
dhism had been accepted by the educated classes as the
philosophy of irreproachable life. These facts are
illustrated by the works of the era. The round, sleek
shapes of the Jocho school are replaced by nervous,
energetic forms instinct with strong, martial vitality.
The sculptor, knowing nothing more worthy of imita-
tion than a stalwart soldier, goes to human life for
inspiration, and models the muscles and contours of
his statues with unprecedented anatomical fidelity.
Every stroke of the chisel bites deep and direct. The
drapery is simple. The attitudes are carefully studied.
The faces are profoundly expressive. For the first
time strict rules are elaborated, and are so carefully
followed in determining proportions that this feature
alone suffices to differentiate the school from all its
predecessors.

It is only within recent times that exhaustive re-
searches and intelligent criticism have accomplished a
clear classification of many great sculptures which for
centuries stood comparatively neglected at Nara and
elsewhere. As a striking illustration of the confu-

i ii

JAPAN

sion previously prevailing, the case may be quoted of
two magnificent life-size statues in wood preserved at
the temple of Kofuku-ji. The subjects are Brama and
Indra, the Deva Kings (Ni-d). These deities are
usually placed in niches flanking the outer gate of
Buddhist temples which they are supposed to guard.
The sculptor's constant aim is to give prominence to
the fierce energy, implacable resolve, and superhuman
strength which are the chief attributes of the demon-
quelling guardians, and the success achieved in the
Kofuku-ji figures is unequivocal. Time has almost
completely obliterated the pigment * that once covered
them, and has produced other defacements, so that
the images now present a battered and mutilated
appearance. But nothing could destroy the grandeur
of their proportions or impair the majesty and dignity
of their pose. Their anatomy is perfect, and had
they emerged from the ruins of some Grecian city,
they would be known and admired by every Western
student of art. These statues have hitherto been
attributed to a nameless Korean immigrant sculptor
at the beginning of the seventh century, and they are
still so attributed by more than one standard author.
If such an identification were admitted, hopeless con-
fusion would be introduced into the whole history of
Japanese sculpture. Work which is essentiallyjapan-
ese and which unmistakably proclaims itself to be of
the Unkei school in the thirteenth century, would
become that of a Korean artist seven hundred years
earlier, and it would be necessary to admit that, by
some inexplicable freak of fate, a Korean visiting
Japan at a time when sculpture in Korea, Japan, and
China was still in its infancy, produced a master-

1 See Appendix, note 14.

112

CLAY FIGURES.

(See page 85.)
Eighth century. Preserved in the Temple of Horju-JI.

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

piece unapproached by any Korean or Chinese worker
in any era, and presenting all the most obviously
characteristic features of the best school of Japanese
sculpture in the thirteenth century. There is no
occasion to do such violence to reason and history.
The figures are from the chisel of Jokaku, a pupil of
Unkei. Two other statues of Deva Kings may be
instructively examined side by side with Jokaku's
masterpiece. They are colossal images twenty-six
and one-half feet high, which stand beside the gate
of Todai-ji. Awe-inspiring and stupendous, they
have been taken by nearly all subsequent sculptors as
a classical type of the Two Guardians, and they well
deserve that distinction. But the exaggerations which
the artists (Unkei and Kwaikei) have resorted to in
order to emphasise special attributes reduce the
figures to a lower plane of achievement than the
supreme eminence on which Jokaku's Devas stand.
The " Watch Dogs " of Tamuke-yama shrine are
another example of Tokei's bold imagination and
powerful chisel. His conception of these super-
human animals is at once original and grand. Kokei,
a contemporary of Kwaikei and Unkei, left some
works which are particularly interesting as examples
of the realistic spirit animating the artists of the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and the great care
which they bestowed on all the accessory details of
their sculpture. Koben's " Demon-lantern-bearers "
of Kofuku-ji are justly celebrated, and side by side
with the savage perplexity of one imp and the vacu-
ous stolidity of the other, may be placed a statue of
Monjushiri, dating also from the thirteenth century,
which, as a type of serene and contemplative benevo-
lence, ranks not far below the Kamakura Dai-Butsu.

VOL. VII. 8 I I O

JAPAN

This last magnificent specimen of religious sculpture
is among the first objects towards which the traveller
turns his feet on arriving in Japan, and perhaps among
all the charmed impressions he carries away from
that fair country, none survives longer than his mem-
ory of the majestic benignity and ineffable repose
breathed by the noble statue.

Outside the sphere of purely supernatural motives,
the Japanese religious gallery contains some sculp-
tures which may be justly compared with the cele-
brated busts of Perikles, of Homer, of Sophokles, and
other famous men of old. Not that there ever was
such a thing as a bust among Japanese sculptures.
That curious outcome of Roman practicality would
have greatly offended Japanese taste. Yet the sculp-
tures here spoken of may be compared to the bust in one
respect, namely, that they derive their characteristics
chiefly from the face. Such works are Unkei's statue
of Vimala-Kirtsi Japanese Yuima, a contemporary of
Gautama ; the figures of Muchaku and Seshin in the
Kofuku-ji at Nara, the statue of Seitaka-doji at Hozan-
ji, and a few others. These are not likeness effigies,
though their remarkable realism suggests that idea.
It is possible that the artists were assisted by Chinese
pictures, but however that may be, these sculptures
compel admiration as great creations of art. The
supernatural endowment of the soul within, the al-
most divine characteristics of these immortal teachers
and preachers of Buddhist mysteries, are here elo-
quently revealed by some subtlety of the sculptor's
art which speaks of the men's achievements and not
merely of their personality. Unfortunately such
works are very rare in Japan. Of likeness effigies
there are several, but ideal creations of art outside

114

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

the domain of deities and demigods are exceedingly
few, and the excellence of those that exist render this
paucity the more regrettable.

Portrait statues, in the Roman sense of the term,
do not seem to have suggested themselves to the
Japanese sculptor. He chiselled a few likeness
effigies of celebrated personages — founders of sects
or temples, renowned warriors and great administra-
tors— and some of this work shows the suggestive-
ness that distinguishes refined sculpture from mere
accuracy of imitation. But the likeness effigy was
not for the purpose of setting up in public. It was
hidden away in a mausoleum or a shrine.1

From the fourteenth century a strong tendency to
substitute elaboration for idealism made itself ap-
parent. The sculptor, while preserving something
of the serenity of the Jocho school, lost the vigour,
energy, and austerity of the Unkei ideal, and wasted
his strength upon an infinity of ornamentation exe-
cuted with the utmost delicacy. He reverted also to
the graceless dumpiness of the early workers, and
sought vainly to compensate this radical fault by
such artifices as elongated drapery and innumerable
pendants. A fourteenth-century statue of the Eleven-
faced Kwannon preserved at a temple in Kyoto illus-
trates this depraved style. From the fifteenth century
commenced the custom of covering religious statues
with lacquer carrying magnificent decoration in
gold. Independently of the principal images per-
petually exposed to public gaze in temples, there had
always been preserved minor statuettes enclosed in
shrines called zushi, or butsugan. These shrines and
the images they enclosed now became objects of great

1 Sec Appendix, note 15.

JAPAN

splendour and beauty, the exterior of the receptacle
richly lacquered, its hinges and metal mountings elabo-
rately chased, its interior refulgent with gold foil and
profuse carving, while the statuette itself, mounted
on a delicately sculptured pedestal, sometimes offered
a contrast of plain white wood or dark bronze, and
sometimes outshone the shrine in grandeur.1

The names of the most eminent sculptors from the
end of the thirteenth century to the end of the fif-
teenth are as follows : —

SEVENTH AVENUE, OR WESTERN SCHOOL

From the End of the Twelfth to the Beginning of the Fourteenth Century

Kwaikei, Kokei (teacher of Unkei), Kaikei, Unkei (son of
Kaikei), Tokei (son of Unkei), Jokaku (pupil of Un-
kei), Koun (priest), Kanyen (son of Koun), Koben,
Koshd, Koyo, Koson, Koyu.

Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries

K5shun (thirteenth in descent from Jocho), Koyei (son of K6-
shun), Kotan (son of Koyei), Kokitsu (son of Kotan),
Koyei (son of Kokitsu), Koshin (son of Koyei) Korin
(son of Koshin).

THIRD AVENUE, OR EASTERN SCHOOL

From the End of the Twelfth to the Beginning of the Fourteenth Century

Joyen, Senyen, Inko, Injin, Inbo, Inken, Inku, Inso, In-
shu, Injo, Inchu, Inyu, Unga, Unsho.

Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries

Shunkei (priest), Rwaiken, Eiyen, Koshu (son of Korin of
the Western School), Kosei (son of Koshu), Kosei (son
of Kosei).

1 See Appendix, note 16.

116

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

N. B. Many of the above artists had titles bestowed on
them in recognition of their skill. Such titles were H~ogen
(eye of the law), Horn (sign of the law), and Hokyo (bridge
of the law).

The vast majority of the glyptic works executed in
early and mediaeval times were intended for temples.
The same remark applies, as already seen, to pictorial
art, but in' the case of sculpture it may be illustrated
by reference to historical records. Thus, in the reign
of the Emperor Shirakawa — eleventh century —
three thousand sacred images were ordered by his
Majesty for enshrining in temples ; in the thirteenth
century the Emperor Kameyama placed thirty-three
thousand images in the Sanjusangendo in Kyoto,
namely, a thousand figures of the Goddess of Mercy
(Kwannon), each five feet high, with thirty-two
thousand smaller effigies mounted on the foreheads,
hands, and halos of the larger figures ; and in the
seventeenth century, the Shogun Hidetada issued an
edict requiring that every household throughout the
land must possess a Buddhist image. Several times,
too, in the annals of early eras, references occur as to
scarcity of the precious metals — among which cop-
per was included — owing to extravagant piety on
the part of sovereigns and nobles, who did not hesi-
tate to throw vast quantities of coin into the melting-
pot when the service of heaven called for such
sacrifices. From the twelfth century, however, wood
became the material commonly used for statues.
They were usually covered with gold foil, and it is
easy to conceive the magnificently imposing effect
produced by such a concourse of gilded images as
those of the Sanjusangen-do ; a forest of glittering fig-

117

JAPAN

ures, rising tier upon tier in the solemn obscurity of a
vast hall, three hundred and eighty-nine feet long and
fifty-seven feet high. Of course this lavish multipli-
city of production could not fail to stifle originality of
conception. Where the object was to inspire awe by
means of a countless concourse of deities, it would
have been essentially faulty art that certain figures
should detach themselves saliently from the phalanx.
Thus, although the names of such celebrated sculp-
tors as Unkei, Kokei, Shichijo, and Koyei are associ-
ated with the carving of the principal images in the
Sanjusangen-do, it cannot be said that any of the
effigies stand on a high plane of glyptic art. No two
are precisely alike. The sculptors were careful that
each should be invested with sufficient individuality
to avert the impression of mere iteration. But be-
yond that feat, which is achieved chiefly by mechani-
cal means, — diverse arrangement of the figures' hands
and of the emblems held in them, — there is nothing
to relieve the monotony of type and execution.

In Europe and America there is a general tendency
to dismiss the ancient sculpture of the East, including
that of Japan, as barbaric in character, without any
sentiment of idealism and with little or no regard for
material beauty. A high place is indeed conceded
to Japanese decorative sculpture, but it is held that
in the more important branch of the art she never
emerged from the barbaric or indigenous stage. That
verdict must surely be based on ignorance of the
work done by Japan's ancient and mediaeval sculptors ;
ignorance not at all surprising when it is remembered
how inaccessible are representative examples of her
art and how few have made any serious attempt to
study them.

118

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

It has been shown above that sculpture owed its
origin in Japan to Buddhist influence. Whatever
preceded the advent of Buddhism was too crude
to deserve consideration. Buddhism came to Japan
from India through China. The art of sculpture that
it brought to China in its train did not receive any
notable development in the latter country. It re-
tained its Indian characteristics. The style was semi-
barbaric ; symbolism took the place of idealism ; the
power and attributes of divinity were expressed by
distortions of the human figure or by colossal dimen-
sions, and statuary never assumed shapes of beauty.
The motives of the art were purely religious. It
was an agent for enforcing a supernatural creed, not a
medium for producing types of beauty.

In Japan, on the contrary, the art made great
advances, but without any material change of direction.
The sculptor rose to much higher ideals, but his
types remained the same. He continued to be bound
by a rule which naturally grew out of such a system, —
the rule that all essentially human features should be
avoided as far as possible. The influence of that rule
was radical. It created at once an essential difference
between the object of sculpture as conceived in Greece
and endorsed in Europe, and its object as pursued in
the East. The Grecian sculptor kept the beautiful
always in view. Whatever elements of beauty and
symmetry were discernible in the human form, these
he sought to combine for the creation of his divine
ideal. But the Japanese sculptor had nothing to do
with beauty. His aim was to represent certain attri-
butes which are virtually independent of graces of
form, being essentially intellectual. What a statue
of the Buddha has to suggest is majestic serenity and

119

JAPAN

eternal, passionless repose. Something of that idea
may be contributed by the posture of the limbs, but
nothing by a display of nude symmetry. It is' not
possible to tell how Pheidias would have sculptured
a Buddha had the task been assigned to him, but
neither his chryselephantine Zeus nor the Jupiter of
the Vatican suggests that any Grecian or Roman
artist could have produced a figure expressing more
perfectly the attributes of Buddha than they are
expressed by the Dai-Butsu of Kamakura. If this
noble figure be examined closely, a combination of
Egyptian and Grecian elements is found. It has the
colossal size of Egyptian statues, and it exhibits also
plain evidences of attention to the perpendicular and
horizontal lines suggestive of eternal stability. On
the other hand, the graceful beauty of the contours
and the harmonious flow of the drapery belong to
the domain of Grecian rather than of Oriental art.
Still more characteristic is the Japanese sculptor's
manner of representing Kwannon (Kwan-yin), the
Deity of Mercy. The traits to be emphasised are
limitless benevolence, a spirit elevated beyond the
range of any ignoble sentiment, and profound sympa-
thy guaranteed against anxious emotion by assurance
of omnipotence to save. That combination of traits
is scarcely conceivable in either male or female of the
human species. Therefore the Kwannon of the
Japanese sculptor does not seem to belong to either
sex. It has the gentle graciousness of a woman,
the placid resolution of a man, and the inerrable
purity of a sexless being.

Human intelligence has never conceived an intelli-
gent, sentient being in any shape other than human.
The gods and goddesses of the Greek sculptor were

1 20

. to ani

"40 aUTATS V.HCIOOW
^sd bn« rftlle-. ^nU ot bslndhJlA

WOODEN STATUE OF VIMALA-KIRTI.
Attributed to Unkei. End of twelfth and beginning of thirteenth centuries.

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

merely perfected types of human beauty, and the
logic of his canon is easily appreciated. The Japan-
ese sculptor, however, conceived for his deities coun-
tenances which, though in no sense repellent or
unnatural, do not conform with the ordinary attri-
butes of comeliness. The chief point of divergence
is an enforcement of the line of the eyebrow. It is
in the countenance that nature shows special beauties
of profile, and one of the most graceful is the curve
of the eyebrow, which is often so finely treated in
Greek statues. This the Japanese sculptor empha-
sised, so that while its grace of form was much
enhanced, the face received an etherealised expression,
removing it from the normal human type. His
treatment of the ear constituted another distinction.
Appreciating the potentialities of its elaborate con-
junction of curves, he exaggerated them, as in the
case of the eyebrow, and thus produced a feature
which helped materially to differentiate the face. In
short, his interpretation of the aspect of divinity was
to give salience to those elements of the countenance
which, in his opinion, distinguished it specially from
the animal type. Another point in which his
method differed from that of the Greeks was that
whereas the latter avoided any expression of emotion,
since it interfered with the repose and dignity of
their ideal, the Japanese sculptor frankly represented,
and even emphasised, the emotions by which his
semi-divinities were supposed to be animated. His
figures of the Deva Kings are conspicuous examples.
Not merely the expression of their faces, but also
every limb and every muscle is instinct with fierce
energy and implacable purpose. Such works, though
splendidly vigorous and imposing, are not "beautiful "

121

JAPAN

in the Grecian sense of the term, and consequently
find no parallels in Grecian sculpture. But it is
surely extravagant to allege that they sin against the
principles of glyptic art. If Grecian masterpieces
suggest that all violent expression should be excluded
from the province of sculpture, and that where truth
cannot be combined with beauty the former must be
subordinated to the latter, does it follow that the
canon is final and conclusive? An answer seems to be
furnished at once by some of the Japanese sculptor's
representations of the Deva Kings, the Four Maha-
rajas, the deities of thunder and storm, and other cog-
nate creations. These statues do not satisfy the
standard of classical beauty, but they command
profound admiration, and just as perfect Grecian
sculpture is an ideal combination of all the highest
elements of beauty presented by the human form, so
these Japanese sculptures are ideal combinations of all
the qualities that typify superhuman strength, resolu-
tion, and supremacy. They are great works, not to
be excluded from the art gallery because they depart
from classic conventionalism, but rather to be ad-
mitted as proofs that the convention is not final.

Such works prepare the student to find that the
duty of subordinating truth to beauty did not impel
the Japanese sculptor to invent graceful or pictu-
resque representatives of human passions and excesses.
Instead of devising Satyrs, Nymphs, Fauns, Centaurs,
Maenads, and so forth, to typify the lower instincts
of humanity, he interpreted the spirit of vice and
mischief as an ugly demon, not indeed as hideous as
the Satan of Christian art but still a monster. It is
scarcely credible that even the Greeks, though shrink-
ing from everything repulsive, would have failed to

122

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

sculpture a devil had they believed that the doomed
are tortured and that their sufferings are superintended
by such a being. But since they entertained no such
belief, since their conception of the eternal conse-
quences of sin was very trivial, there is no reason to
infer that they excluded the demon from their art
gallery merely because his ugliness disqualified him
for admission. The truth is that they never con-
ceived him. Buddhism, however, introduced a devil
to Japan with appropriate furniture of horns, claws,
and fangs. But he did not find a place in the gallery
of sacred sculpture, nor did any of the celebrated
artists of ancient or mediaeval Japan attempt to chisel a
demon, if the deities of thunder and tempest, who are
certainly demoniacal types, and the impish lantern-
bearers of Kasuga, be excepted. On the other hand,
if the devil's place in Japanese sacred sculpture was
almost as rare as that of the Harpies in Grecian art,
it is not to be assumed that he was ostracised because
of his ugliness. He figures prominently in Japanese
secular carving, which dates from a later epoch, and
there can be no question that in the eyes of the
Japanese his ugliness had a beauty of its own, as
indeed all fully developed types have.

Nevertheless it is necessary to conclude that, on
the whole, the range of the art sculptor in Japan was
narrow. He was the exponent of a system of reli-
gious belief rather than of the heroic and the pathetic
in humanity. He had no rich source of motives like
that wide domain peopled by Grecian imagination
with mythological heroes and heroines, with Dryads
and Hamadryads, with Nymphs and Fauns, with Naiads
and Nereids, with Satyrs, Centaurs, and Minotaurs,
representatives of noble and tender fancies or pictur-

123

JAPAN

esque vices. In the field of minor sculpture — netsuke
and sword-furniture — he drew from a large reper-
toire of motives ; from the pages of history, of legend,
of folk-lore, and of every-day life. But such work
dates from a comparatively late period. In all his
early and mediaeval sculpture the types were few, and
his treatment of them ultimately became conventional
and uninteresting. This requires a word of explana-
tion. At first sight it seems as though the large
population of the Buddhist and Shinto pantheons
should have furnished practically unlimited motives.
The Indian creed with its broad liberality of eclecti-
cism, and Taoism with its numerous excursions into
elf-land and gnome-kingdom, appear to offer a mine
sufficiently rich for any artist. But religion made
from these a strict selection, and prescribed almost in-
variable methods of treatment. The Nine Phases of
Amitabha, for example, a formula suggesting varied
developments, signifies, after all, nothing more than
nine images distinguished solely by the positions of
their hands and fingers. The legion of genii that
exercise supernatural power in mystic regions of space
appear to invite an endless play of poetic and artistic
fancy. But their orthodox representatives, whether
in painting or sculpture, are generally paltry in con-
ception and disappointingly deficient in the dignity
of apotheosis. It fared with the sculptors of Japan as
it had fared with those of Byzantium. Bound by
conventions which religion, not art, dictated, and
which superstition enforced, they did not venture to
follow ideals of their own, or to introduce strongly
subjective elements into their work.

It will further be observed that the cardinal point
of difference between Japanese and Grecian methods

124

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

was that in Japan the divine nature was never allied
with the human form, and thus the attributes of the
former found no expression in the beauties of the
latter. Japanese deities were always draped wholly
or partially. The Deva Kings and demoniacal beings
in general had much of the body exposed, because a
display of muscular force entered into the artistic con-
ception of such statues. But a nude Buddha or a
nude Kwannon would have been an intolerable sole-
cism in Japanese eyes. The peculiar conditions that
directed artistic attention in Greece to the graces of
the human form did not exist in Japan, where ex-
posure of the person was permitted to the lower
orders only, and then for purposes of toilsome labour
or ablutions. That the nude should be tabooed in
art under such circumstances was inevitable.

Before continuing the story of the development of
sculpture, it will be well to speak briefly of the
physical character of Japanese bronze, and of the
methods adopted in modelling and casting.

" Bronze " is known in Japan as kara-kane (Chinese
metal), a term clearly indicating the source whence a
knowledge of the alloy was derived. It is a copper-
tin-lead compound, the proportions of its constituents
varying from seventy-two to eighty-eight per cent
of copper, from two to eight per cent of tin, and
from four to twenty per cent of lead. It also con-
tains small quantities of arsenic and antimony, as well
as zinc, varying from a trace to as much as six
per cent. There is a tradition that some ancient
bronzes had a considerable admixture of gold, but no
analysis has showed more than an occasional trace
of the precious metal, and not more than two per
cent of silver has ever been found. Lead was ex-

125

JAPAN

eluded from bronze destined for the manufacture of
swords and other weapons in which strength and hard-
ness were essential, but it always found a place in
bronze intended for artistic castings. An interesting
fact is that the ancient bronzes of Egypt, Rome, and
Greece were alloys in which the principal constitu-
ents varied similarly, though these Occidental bronzes
differed from the Japanese in being entirely free from
arsenic and antimony. It must not be assumed,
however, that the presence of the latter metals in
Japanese bronze of later times was due to defective
processes, whatever may have been the case formerly.
The cause is to be sought in the addition of a pseudo-
spiese (called shirome] ; an alloy of copper, arsenic,
lead, and antimony, obtained as a by-product in
separating silver from copper by liquation with
lead, a process introduced into Japan by the Portu-
guese in the sixteenth century, but subsequently altered
by the Japanese so that " the results achieved with it
far surpassed in economy and in completeness of separa-
tion of the respective metals anything that had been
accomplished in its original form." l Alone shirome
is worthless, but the Japanese discovered that by em-
ploying it as a constituent of bronze, the latter ob-
tained greater hardness without impairment of fusibil-
ity, so that it took a sharper impression of the mould.
From the early part of the seventeenth century
shirome was constantly added to bronze destined for
ornamental or useful castings, since, in addition to the
advantages mentioned above, it facilitated the produc-
tion of a deep gray patina, which was thought spe-
cially suitable for silver inlaying. Competent experts
have decided that Japanese bronze is eminently

1 See Appendix, note 1 7.

126

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

adapted for art castings, not only because of its
low melting-point, great fluidity, and capacity for
taking sharp impressions, but also because it has a
particularly smooth surface and readily acquires a rich
patina.

Concerning the quality of Japanese bronze, Mr. W.
Gowland, in a paper read before the Applied Art
Section of the Society of Arts, makes the following
interesting remarks : —

The chief characters on which the value of the Japanese
copper-tin-lead alloys, as art bronzes, depend, may be briefly
stated as follows : —

1. Low melting-point. This is of especial importance
to the Japanese founder, owing to the fusible nature of the
clays and sands of which his crucibles and moulds are
made.

2. Great fluidity when melted compared with the sluggish-
ness of copper-tin bronzes.

3. Capability of receiving sharp impression of the mould.

4. Their contraction on solidification is not excessive.

5. Their peculiar smooth surface.

6. The readiness with which they acquire rich patinas of
many tints when suitably treated.

The advantages resulting from the above properties will
be obvious to all artists in bronze. They are chiefly the
result of the use of lead as one of the chief constituents of
the alloys. The low melting-point of these bronzes, their
fluidity when melted, and the facility with which they acquire
certain patinas are indeed entirely due to the use of this
metal. The fine velvety surface and sharpness of the cast-
ings depend in a great measure on the structure of the
mould and its comparatively high temperature when the
bronze is poured into it, although partly also on the influ-
ence of the lead. These alloys are, however, not without
some disadvantageous properties, and these are also due to
the lead which they contain. They are often low in te-
nacity, and offer but little resistance to bending and torsion

127

JAPAN

when compared with simple copper-tin bronzes, even when
they contain sufficient tin to enable them to hold more lead
in solution than they would otherwise do. Their use is
hence almost limited to the production of objects of art.
And even for those art castings, such as, for example, large
equestrian or other statues, where a considerable strain has
to be borne by certain parts, their use is unadvisable. But
in most art castings of moderate size — and even in many
of colossal proportions, where the position of the centre of
gravity of the mass does not cause excessive tension in any
part — it is not necessary that the metal of which they are
cast should possess great tenacity ; for all such, these alloys
are eminently adapted, and especially so, as by no others can
the work of the artist's hand with all its delicate and mas-
terly touches, be so readily and perfectly reproduced.

The above remarks apply to the ordinary bronze
of temple images and utensils. There is also a yel-
low bronze called sentoku because the first specimen
of it reached Japan in the Shuntish (sentoku, in Japan-
ese pronunciation) era of the Ming dynasty. Accord-
ing to Japanese traditions, this alloy was accidentally
obtained when the Chinese melted together the
bronze and gold vessels of the conquered Mongols.
But gold does not enter into the composition at all;
the presence of the precious metal is ignorantly im-
agined because of the golden colour of the alloy.
Copper, tin, lead, and zinc, variously mixed by dif-
ferent experts, are the ingredients. Its beautiful golden
colour and glossy texture made it a favourite material
in some workshops, and it is largely used in modern
times. One very charming variety has a surface like
aventurine lacquer (nasbiji, or " pear ground," as it is
called in Japan) : that is to say, specks or flecks of gold
seem to float up from the depths of the metal. This
effect is obtained by heating the alloy many times in

128

U-inlu1o>I elqmsT .qirip.ntrrTjhow rwJnoo ritrf^iH (.aarfoni >^S Jaei E

BRONZE GONG.
(See page 89.)

(Height, 3 feet "2Y* inches.) Eighth century workmanship. Temple Kofuku-jl.

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

the furnace, and sprinkling it while hot with sulphate
of copper and nitric acid.

With regard to the method of casting, Mr. Gow-
land's description of a typical operation witnessed by
himself is this : —

The bronze was melted in a cupola furnace. Charcoal
was used as fuel, and the blast was produced by a " tatara "
(kind of bellows) worked by eight persons.

From an early hour in the morning, and whilst the melt-
ing was proceeding, the foundry staff was engaged in prepar-
ing the moulds for the reception of the metal by heating
them to redness. This was effected in the following manner :
The mould was placed on five or six bricks, to raise it above
the earthen floor of the melting-room. Its ingates were
closed with stoppers of clay, and conical tubes were fitted
over its air outlets to prevent any fuel from falling into
them. A wall of fireclay slabs was now built up around it,
the slabs being kept in position by hoops and bands of iron
and an external luting of clay, a space about three inches
wide at its narrowest part being left between the inside of
the wall and the outside of the mould. A charcoal fire was
then made on the floor below the mould, and the space be-
tween the wall and the mould was completely filled with
burning charcoal which was mixed with fragments of bricks
and crucibles to prevent the heat from becoming too intense.
The interior of the core was also partly filled with the same
mixture, and two clay tubes were fitted above it to serve the
purpose of chimneys. The temperature of the interior was
regulated by partially or entirely closing the upper openings
of these tubes with tiles. The mould was kept at a red heat
for more than two hours, by which time the metal was nearly
ready. The wall of clay slabs and the draught tubes were
now rapidly taken down and the fire was raked away. The
bricks supporting the mould were carefully removed and the
holes through which the wax had run out stopped up with
fireclay. During their removal the floor below was sprinkled
with water and softened by shovelling, and on this the
mould was allowed to rest. Large stones were now piled

VOL. VII. 9

JAPAN

around its base to steady it, and the stoppers were removed
from the ingates. The ingates, of which there were seven —
four about the middle of the mould and three at the top —
were fashioned in the form of small cups of fireclay, about
two inches in diameter, each having three apertures half-
inch in diameter opening into the channel leading into the
mould.

The mould was now ready for receiving the metal. On
looking into it through one of the ingates it was seen to be
at a dull red heat. The bronze was then tapped into four
iron ladles, each of which was held by a workman, and a
small quantity of wood ashes was thrown upon its surface.
The workmen then took up their positions opposite the
lower ingates, and on a signal being given poured the con-
tents of their ladles simultaneously into the mould. The
quantity of metal had been very accurately estimated as it
just reached about half-way up each ingate. These ingates
were then closed with clay stoppers luted in with fireclay.
Three of the ladles were filled again and poured in the same
manner as before, but into the upper ingates, completely fill-
ing the mould. During pouring very finely powdered rice
bran was thinly sprinkled on the metal as it flowed from the
mouths of the ladles. The mould was allowed to stand for
six hours before breaking it from off the casting. Several
other smaller moulds were then filled in a similar manner,
and as one ladleful of metal was sufficient to fill each, they
had only one ingate and one air outlet. Whilst the bronze
was being poured into them they were rather vigorously
tapped with a short stick to dislodge any air bubbles which
might have adhered to their sides.

For castings of very large size ladles are not used, but
the bronze is run from one or more cupola furnaces, first
into a receptacle lined with fireclay, and then from this through
an aperture in its bottom into the mould. The outflow is
regulated by means of a plug, so that a considerable depth
of metal is always retained in the receptacle in order that
scoriae and oxidised scums may be prevented from entering
the mould. To prevent oxidation as far as possible, the
surface of the metal is kept carefully covered with a layer of
charcoal or of partially carbonised straw.

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JAPANESE APPLIED ART

A subsidiary but often necessary part of the founder's
work, and one in which the Japanese exhibit very great
skill, 'js the repairing of any defects that the castings may
show on their removal from the moulds. Thus, for
example, occasionally the rim or other part of a vase may be
imperfect, owing to the retention of air in the mould when
the metal was poured in. In this case the imperfect part is
carefully remodelled in wax on the defective casting, a clay
mould is made over it in the usual way, and the wax is
melted out. A certain quantity of metal is then poured in
and allowed to run out until the edges of the defective part
have been partially melted, when the outlet is stopped and
the mould allowed to fill. When it has solidified, the clay
mould is broken away and the excess of metal filed off.

Handles and ornamental appendages, which have been
separately cast, are frequently attached to objects in this
manner. Separate parts of complicated groups and often
figures are similarly united, and often this is so skilfully
done that it is impossible to say whether the whole is a true
single casting or is composed of several pieces which have
been separately cast.

Rude as the appliances and methods of the Japanese art
founder, which I have just described, may seem to us, he
has produced with them castings in bronze on all scales,
which, with all the modern equipments of our foundries, it
would be difficult for us to excel. The simplicity, adapta-
bility, and portable character of his appliances have been of
special advantage to him in his remarkable achievements in
colossal castings. Thus, when a huge image of a Buddhist
divinity or a bell of unusual weight was required for a tem-
ple or any locality, the whole of the operations were con-
ducted on the spot. Temporary sheds for the modelling
were erected in the temple grounds. The furnace and
blowers were transported thither in segments ; sometimes
the latter were even made by the local carpenters. If the
casting had to be made in one piece, the necessary number
of cupola furnaces, each with its blower, were erected around
the mould. The cost of the blast was nit, as the services of
any number of eager volunteers, from the crowds which
congregated at the temple festival on the day of casting,

JAPAN

were readily obtained for the meritorious work of treading
the blowing-machines. In this way the great bells and
colossal images were cast.

It may be interesting to note here, that the methods of
heating the mould and of repairing defective castings were
in use in Europe during the tenth and eleventh centuries,
and doubtless at a very much earlier date. They are de-
scribed by Theophilus in his valuable treatise, " De Diversis
Artibus," written in the early half of the eleventh century,
and his description is practically identical with that I have
just given of them as they are practised in Japan.

What is here stated about the subsidiary processes
employed for uniting the parts of colossal figures or
complicated groups, has a special bearing on the
work of ancient Japanese casters. The great image
of Lochana Buddha at Nara is fifty-three feet high.
It is in a sitting posture. Were it standing erect, it
would measure 138 feet, approximately. Tradition
says that the metals used were 500 pounds of gold,
16,827 pounds of tin, 1,954 pounds of mercury,
and 986,180 pounds of copper; but the statement is
evidently inexact, since it omits lead. The gold and
mercury served, of course, for gilding purposes only.
This figure was cast not in one piece, but in a
number of segments, — plates measuring ten inches
by twelve superficially, and six inches in thickness.
The same method of construction was adopted in the
case of the huge Amida at Kamakura, which has a
height only three feet less than that of the Nara Dai-
Eutsu. History tells that the plan pursued by the early
Greeks, as illustrated in the Spartan statue of Zeus de-
scribed by Pausanias, was to hammer bronze plates over
a model and subsequently to rivet them together. Not
until the sixth century before the Christian era was
the art of hollow casting discovered. Now, although

132

JAPANESE APPLIED ART

the huge images of Japan, like the very much smaller
statues of ancient Greece, were finally built up with
plates of bronze, these plates were not originally ham-
mered into shape : they were cast. The building-up
process was evidently resorted to because it would
have been scarcely possible to cast such gigantic
figures in situ, neither could the mechanical genius of
the age have furnished any means of transporting and
elevating upon its pedestal an image weighing five
hundred and fifty tons, as the Nara Dai-Butsu did.
It is thus apparent that the Japanese of the eighth
century understood and practised with marked success
the process which is regarded as the highest develop-
ment of the caster's art, namely, the employment of a
hollow, removable core round which the metal is run
in a skin just thick enough for strength without waste
of material. The object was first roughly modelled
in clay on a hollow wooden core. Then, over the
clay, a skin of wax was applied, and in this the artist
worked all the details, whether of form or of decora-
tion. Thereafter a thin layer of clay was applied
with a brush, and when it had dried, other layers
were similarly superposed, until coats of coarser clay
could be added so as to obtain the requisite strength
of mould. Then the mould was dried slowly by
means of gentle heat, and the wooden core having
been removed, the wax was melted out, leaving a
hollow space into which the molten bronze could be
poured, the outer envelope and the inner skin of clay
being ultimately broken up and removed. A bronze
casting obtained by this process was evidently a shell
without any break of continuity, whereas for great
images, like the Dai-Butsu of Nara and Kamakura, it
was necessary to cast the shell in a number of small

133

JAPAN

and easily manipulated segments. Records say that
the plan pursued by the artists of the Nara Dai-Butsu
was to gradually build up the walls of the mould as
the lower part of the casting cooled, instead of con-
structing the whole mould first and making the cast-
ing in a single piece. On that supposition it appears
that the mould was constructed in a series of steps
ascending twelve inches at a time, and as the head,
which with the neck measures some twelve feet in
height, was cast in one shell, it follows that the body
must have been made in forty-one independent layers.
The labour and risks of such a process are evidently
enormous.

134

Chapter IV

BRONZE-CASTING, ARCHITECTURAL
SCULPTURE AND DECORATION, ETC.

IT is evident from what has been written above
that up to the middle of the sixteenth century
the resources of applied art were employed almost
entirely for religious purposes, — the modelling
or casting of sacred images, the lacquering and inlay-
ing of pillars and beams, the pictorial decoration of
door panels or ceiling coffers, and the chiselling of
ornamental metal mountings and temple accessories.
But from the days of Nobunaga and Hideyoshi the
services of applied art began to be enlisted for secular
purposes even more largely than for sacred. The
prime cause of this change was foreign intercourse.
Contact with the Dutch and the Portuguese suggested
the substitution of large solidly constructed castles for
the flimsy wooden edifices that had previously served
as military strongholds, and it soon became difficult
to reconcile the simplicity of old-time domestic
interiors with the lives of the lords of such massive
structures. Hideyoshi's tastes greatly promoted this
sequence of ideas. Though the scenes and struggles
of his career were not at all calculated to develop
artistic proclivities, he was found to be an impassioned
lover of the beautiful and the refined when he rose to
power, and he not only encouraged art effort in every

JAPAN

form, but also converted the once simple tea-ceremony
into a vehicle for promoting the collection of costly
objects of virtu. It was undoubtedly in this respect
that he produced the greatest and most permanent
effect on his country ; for whereas the unvarying
habit of the nation, even in the days of Fujiwara
magnificence, had been to cultivate beauty without
display, Hideyoshi introduced the custom of associat-
ing beauty with display. He may be said to have
extended the range of decorative art from accessories
to principals, and to have made splendour the perpet-
ual accompaniment of life, not merely a feature of its
occasional incidents. It thus becomes necessary to
speak henceforth of applied art according to the fields
of its employment, not, as hitherto, in connection
with religion alone.

Up to the thirteenth century the Japanese did not
use iron caldrons for boiling rice. They employed a
vessel of baked clay, sinking it in a hole in the ground
and applying heat from above. The manufacture of
iron vessels for such purposes commenced under cir-
cumstances of which no record exists, but it is known
to have been inaugurated by Shichirozayemon, a de-
scendant of the second son of the Hojo Regent Yoshi-
toki. Had it not been for the skill of this man and
his descendants as iron-casters, the tea-clubs established
under the auspices of Yoshimasa, at the close of the
fifteenth century, might have found difficulty in ob-
taining urns adapted to their taste. But Nagoshi
Yashichiro, great-grandson of Shichirozayemon, was
able to meet the novel demand. The term "urn"
is somewhat misleading in this context, for the cha-
gama of Japan partakes rather of the nature of a cal-
dron. Roughly described, it is a spherical vessel

136

B R O N Z E-C A S T I N G, ETC.

encircled by a broad flange, so that while the lower
hemisphere is sunk into a charcoal furnace, the upper,
supported on the flange, remains above the level of
the matted floor. But that is indeed a rough descrip-
tion, for the cha-gama engrossed the skill of the best
artisans, and designs for its shape and ornamentation
were furnished by the greatest artists. Yashichiro's
models were sketched by the painters that helped
Yoshimasa to elaborate the details and utensils of the
tea ceremonial, and a metal-caster himself had the
honour to be appointed metal-caster and sculptor to
the Imperial Household, the Ise Shrine, and the Sbo-
guns family. He received the art name " Miami,"
and from his time the iron tea-urn occupied a place
of great importance. Japanese connoisseurs recognise
and appreciate infinitesimally small differences in
shape, in quality of metal, and in surface decoration,
and though the foreign amateur can scarcely emulate
such discrimination, he finds no difficulty in admiring
the refined taste, the ingenuity of form and design,
and the elaboration of nomenclature that are lavished
in Japan on utensils which, in other parts of the
world, would be regarded as little better than kitchen
furniture. Sesshiu, the celebrated painter, furnished
designs for cha-gama in the fifteenth century, and
when the tea ceremonial, under the patronage of
rulers like Nobunaga and Hideyoshi, assumed national
dimensions, the manufacture of iron urns became a
branch of high art, and continued to have that rank
throughout the whole of the Yedo epoch. The cha-
gama, however, has no honour outside Japan. Being
inseparable from the purpose it serves, it has never
commended itself to the European or American
collector, nor has any writer undertaken to compare

137

JAPAN

the relative merits of the amida-doy the maru-gama, the
dai-unryo, the sho-unryoy the shiri-hari, and a multitude
of other shapes esteemed by the tea-clubs. But there
is interest in knowing that the manufacture of the
tea-urn gave impetus to metal work in general, and
that the kama-shi (urn-maker), though proud to be
so called, did not by any means confine himself to the
production of kama. His work extended to all kinds
of metal utensils for the use of the tea-clubs or the
furniture of temples, and he cast not only bells and
pedestal lamps but even cannon. The Nagoshi fam-
ily attained the highest reputation as kama-shi. In
the sixteenth century the representatives of the sixth,
seventh, and eighth generations, Joyu, Zensho, and
Sansho (known also by his art name, Jomi), as well
as the latter's brother (Sanehisa or Ittan), were con-
spicuously famous. Sansho cast a great bell for the
temple of the Kyoto Dai-Butsu, and received the
title of Echizen no Sh~bjo ; and Sanehisa manufactured
a bronze image sixteen feet high for the same temple.
These artists, having enjoyed the patronage of the Taiko
and received from him the honorific appellation of
Tenka Ichl (first under the sun), refrained from serv-
ing the Tokugawa Shoguns. But Sanehisa's younger
brother, lyemasa (or Zuiyetsu), was not influenced by
such scruples. The Yedo Government conferred on
him the title of Etcbu no Sbyo, and in conjunction with
his pupils, Onishi, Josei, and Joho, he founded a
school of artists who executed many beautiful works
in bronze and iron during the seventeenth, eighteenth,
and nineteenth centuries, were munificently supported
by the Tokugawa Sboguns, and had titles of rank be-
stowed on them ; a point not unworthy of note, since
European writers have denied that Japanese art-

138

B R O N Z E-C A S T I N G, ETC.

founders ever rose above the grade of common
artisans.

The Tokugawa era (1620—1850) is justly regarded
as the golden period of the bronze-caster's art in
Japan. It was marked, not by any specially con-
spicuous achievements like the founding of the colossal
Buddhas at Nara and Kamakura, but rather by a long
series of beautiful works executed for the mausolea
of the Tokugawa in Yedo and Nikko, and for other
temples and shrines throughout the Empire. These
works consisted of thupas, pedestal and hanging
lamps, vases, pricket-candlesticks, censers, pagodas,
reliquaries, gates, fonts, figures of mythological ani-
mals, images of deities and saints, pillar-caps and
other objects of an architectural character. The thupas
were never highly ornamented : they depended chiefly
on chaste simplicity of outline and graces of form.
The same remark applies in part to the vases, censers,
and pricket-candlesticks placed before altars and
tombs.1 These showed continual fidelity to tradi-
tional models. The vase had the familiar " beaker "
shape of China, and its ornamentation consisted only
of vertical bands scalloped in high relief and of medal-
lions enclosing Paullownia leaves. The censers, too,
had plain surfaces broken by two, or at most three,
similar medallions, their lids surmounted by a Dog of
Fo and their feet modelled to represent the head of
that animal. The pricket-candlestick invariably took
the form of a stork standing on a tortoise, or on a lotus
calyx, supporting with its beak a leaf of lotus which
formed the pricket-receptacle. These objects, though
finely modelled and skilfully cast, lose much of their
interest owing to their wearisome uniformity. It is

1 See Appendix, note 1 8.

139

JAPAN

in the casting of pedestal lamps (toro) that greatest
progress was made. Here much beauty of form is
found with elaborate decoration, both incised and in
relief. The pedestal lamp had long been an essential
article of temple paraphernalia, and from a celebrated
octagonal lantern preserved at the temple Todai-ji it
is learned that, already in the twelfth century, Japanese
artists had conceived, or received, the idea of castings
a jour with high-relief decoration suspended in the
network. But the splendid series of fbrb (pedestal
lamp) cast from the beginning to the end of the Yedo
era show a remarkable development of artistic and
technical skill, every variety of decoration being used
successfully for their ornamentation — decoration in
sunken panels, decoration in high, low, and medium
relief, and decoration incised. It is commonly asserted
that this kind of work was suggested by Korean ex-
amples. Certainly there is a broad difference between
the methods of the Chinese and the Korean metal-
caster : the former confined himself entirely to scrolls
and arabesques in low relief; the latter preferred high-
relief effects and modelling in accordance with natural
forms. But it is impossible to accept the theory that
bronzes brought from Korea to Japan by the Taiko s
forces at the close of the sixteenth century were the
first specimens of that nature ever seen by Japanese
artists, for in the temple Hokke-ji there are preserved
two bronzes of the year 1325, copied accurately from
a well-known form of Chinese celadon vase having
peony scrolls in relief. These make it clear that
although the fashion of bronze-casting in Japan may
have derived a marked impulse from contact with
examples of Korean workmanship in the time of the
Taiko, an entirely new style was not suggested by that

140

B R O N Z E-C A S T I N G, ETC.

event. Associated with the fine castings then made
is the name of Jiyemon Yasuteru of the Nakaya
family, who is commonly but erroneously supposed
to have been the first in Japan to decorate bronzes
with designs in high relief, taking for motives flowers,
birds, figure-subjects, dragons, etc. The Taiko be-
stowed on him the art distinction of tenka ichi (first
under the sun), exempted him from taxation and gave
him the title, Dewa no Daijo. It is to the experts of
this family that Japan owes the beautiful bronzes
of the Tokugawa mortuary shrines in Yedo (Tokyo)
and Nikko. Jiyemon Yasuteru's great-grandson,
Jiyemon lyetsugu, cast the bronzes for the mausoleum
of lyemitsu, the third Tokugawa Shbgun in 1651, as
his father, Jiyemon Yasuiye, had cast those for the
shrine of lyeyasu, and every representative of the
family down to Kameyama Yasutomo, whose son
is now working in Kyoto, was honoured with an
official title, whether Dewa no Daijo or Ise no
Daijb or Tamato no Daijo. Some of the choicest
work of these experts is seen in reliquaries, and a
better idea of their skill may be gathered from the
accompanying plates than from any verbal description.
Two features may be mentioned, however, since no
picture can do more than suggest them ; namely, the
fine texture of the metal and the beautiful patina
it develops in the course of years. This question of
patina will be referred to in future pages.

Towards the middle of the seventeenth century an-
other new departure was made : bronze-casters turned
their attention to objects for use in private houses.
Hitherto they have been seen devoting their best
efforts to work of a religious character ; they now
began to cast alcove-ornaments, flower-vases, and

141

JAPAN

censers for the tea-clubs as well as for the public in
general. Such objects were not manufactured for the
first time at so late a date as the seventeenth century.
Splendid examples in iron, in silver, and in other
metals had been chiselled in previous eras by sculptors
of sword-furniture. But the works referred to here
are bronze. Not until a comparatively recent date
did the art of casting that metal become so refined
and delicate that its products began to rank with the
forged and chiselled works of silversmiths and chis-
ellers of sword-furniture (to be spoken of presently).
Some authorities maintain that " parlour bronzes "
were first manufactured by Nakayama Sh5yeki, popu-
larly called Yqjuro, an armourer of Takata in Echigo,
who settled in Kyoto in 1573, and was equally suc-
cessful in chiselling iron and in casting bronze. Cer-
tainly Shoyeki's descendants were highly skilled
bronze-casters. But no authenticated casting of his
survives, and it is consequently usual to speak of a
female expert, Kame, of Nagasaki (1661 to 1690), as
the pioneer of this kind of work. By some authori-
ties, generally well informed, the great error has been
committed of attributing to Kame the first use of
the cire-perdue process, which, as the reader knows,
had been commonly employed by Japanese metal-
casters for many centuries before her time. The fact
is that the excellence of Kame's modelling, — she was
especially noted for censers in the form of a quail, —
the fine surface of her bronze and the clean sharpness
of her casting, attracted so much attention that her
methods were regarded as a new departure. Another
common error is to say that Kame's era was immedi-
ately antecedent to that of Seimin, a bronze-caster
whose name is known to all Western collectors.

142

B R O N Z E-C A S T I N G, ETC.

Seimin's date was fully a century subsequent to that
of Kame. He was born in Nagasaki in 1769, and
though, before he moved to Yedo in 1805, he doubt-
less studied the methods which Kame and her father,
Tokuye, practised so successfully in Genya-machi in
Nagasaki, it does not appear that he gained any
distinction until, having undergone a course of train-
ing in the workshop of an urn-caster in Yedo, he
settled in the Kameido suburb and devoted himself
to producing flower-vases, censers, and alcove-orna-
ments. Seimin had five pupils, Toun, Masatsune,
Teijo, Somin, and Keisai, and by this group of artists
many brilliant works were turned out, their general
features being that the motives were naturalistic, that
the quality of the metal was exceptionally fine, that
modelling in high relief was most successfully em-
ployed, and that, in addition to beautifully clean
castings obtained by highly skilled use of the cera-per-
duta process, the chisel was employed to impart deli-
cacy and finish to the design. Seimin preferred the
golden coloured bronze, Sentoku, to all other alloys,
and his specialty was the modelling of tortoises, just
as Kame's reputation rests chiefly on her censers in
the shape of quails, and Toun is regarded as one of
the greatest casters of dragons that Japan ever pos-
sessed. Seimin did not work for the general market :
he aimed at producing chefs-d'ceuvres only, whereas
the most renowned of his pupils showed more of the
mercantile instinct. Masatsune, a slow and infinitely
painstaking artist, shared Seimin's exclusive views, as
did also Keisai and Somin ; but Teijo, though much
of his work is not inferior to that of Masatsune, often
aimed at quantity rather than quality. These six men
gave exceptional eclat to the first half of the present

JAPAN

century. Not less expert were their contemporaries
Suwara Yasugoro (art name Zenriusai Gido), Takusai,
and Hotokusai. Gido excelled in casting alcove-
ornaments in the form of the Dog of Fo (shishi),
figures of Hotei, the Genius Gama, and such things!
Takusai, who worked in Sado, produced only small
objects, chiefly paper-weights, pen-rests and other
desk-furniture, imparting to them a beautiful patina ;
and Hotokusai affected designs in medium relief
which he cast and chiselled admirably.

It is often said that after the era of the above ten
masters, the last of whom, Somin, ceased to work in
1871, no bronzes comparable with theirs were cast.
That is an error. Between 1875 and l879> some of
the finest bronzes - - probably the very finest of their
kind — ever produced in Japan were turned out by a
group of experts working in combination under the
firm-name "Sansei-sha." Started by two brothers,
Oshima Katsujiro (art name Joun) and Oshima Yasu-
taro (art name Shokaku) in 1875, tm's association
secured the services of a number of skilled chisellers
of sword-furniture who had lost their metier owing to
the abolition of the sword-wearing custom. Nothing
could surpass the delicacy of the works executed in
the Sansei-sha's atelier at Kobinata in the Ushigome
quarter of Toky5. Unfortunately such productions
were above the standard of the customers for whom
they were intended. Foreign buyers, who alone
stood in the market at that time, failed to distinguish
the fine and costly bronzes of Joun, Shokaku, and
their colleagues from cheap imitations that soon began
to compete with them, so that ultimately the Sansei-
sha had to be closed. This page in the modern
history of Japan's bronzes needs little alteration to be-

144

.3UTAT2

I I

ni^ BvaQ srfl WvSnO (.asrfoni 9 H>9\ 8 trigisri ,booW)
il-ujluioJi te bsviaaail

STATUE.
(See page 112.)

(Wood, height 5 feet 9 inches.) One of the Deva Kings, by Jokaku, a pupil of Unkei.
Preserved at Kofuku-ji.

B R O N Z E-C A S T I N G, ETC.

come true of her applied art in general. Foreign
demand showed so little discrimination that experts,
finding it impossible to obtain adequate remuneration
for high-class work, were obliged to abandon the
field altogether or to lower their standard to the level
of common appreciation, or to have recourse to
forgeries. Joun has produced, and is thoroughly
capable of producing, bronzes at least equal to the
best of Seimin's masterpieces, yet he has often been
induced to put Seimin's name on objects for the sake
of attracting buyers that attach more value to cachet
than to quality. Even in the manufacture of the
beautiful golden-patina bronze (ki-sentoku) for which
Seimin was famous, Joun shows no inferiority. His
vases are generally of medium size with decoration in
high relief, — carp swimmingin water, sprays of flowers,
mythological beings, and so on. His pupil Nogami
Yataro (art name Riuki) is a scarcely less skilled
caster, especially clever in modelling insects and
tortoises in Seimin's style.

Among modern bronze-casters the names of Suzuki
Chokichi, Okazaki Sessei, Hasegawa Kumazo, Kanaya
Gorosaburo, and Tomi Yeisuke, in conjunction with
those mentioned above, take rank as masters of their
art and perpetuate its best traditions. Suzuki Choki-
chi has the title of Gigei-in, or expert to the Imperial
Court. He has emerged from the days of false stan-
dards when he manufactured some pieces remembered
by him to-day with shame — notably a huge censer
now in the possession of the South Kensington Mu-
seum, a type of the meretricious confused style often
adopted by Japanese artists in obedience to their
mistaken conception of Western taste — and he now
casts bronzes that comply with the pure canons of

VOL. VII. IO i A r

JAPAN

Japanese art, where the naturalistic modelling is
always duly subordinated to the decorative design.

In connection with the name of Okazaki Sessei, a
special kind of casting should be mentioned. The
tomb of lyeyasu, first Tokugawa Shogun, at the
Shiba mausolea is approached by a magnificent bronze
gate the doors of which are solid castings with large
medallion ornaments moulded in relief in a field of
delicately traced diapers. This grand specimen of
bronze-casting is known in Japan as Chosen Karakanemon
(the Korean bronze gate), in recognition of the fact
that the panels were brought from Korea among the
spoils taken by the Tai&o's troops. No panels of
comparable magnitude are found in any other mau-
soleum of the Tokugawa, and the plain inference,
supported by traditions and endorsed by modern
bronze-workers, is that a casting of the kind was
beyond the capacity of Japanese experts in the seven-
teenth and eighteenth centuries. Okazaki Sessei en-
joys the distinction of being the first to accomplish
such work. In 1890 he cast two magnificent door-
panels, their height 7.2 feet, their width 4.5 feet, and
their decorative designs ascending and descending
dragons (agari-riu and kudari-riu) modelled in high
relief, the former rising from waves, the latter emerg-
ing from clouds. The casting of such large panels is
regarded as a most difficult tour-de-force. Many other
beautiful works in bronze have emerged from Sessei's
hands, — an eagle in the act of alighting, its outspread
wings measuring seven feet across ; a figure (8.7 feet
high) of one of the Heavenly Kings trampling on a
dragon, and other fine conceptions. He is now
engaged on a colossal figure, thirty-three feet high,
of the great Buddhist teacher, Nichiren, which is to

146

B R O N Z E-C A S T I N G, ETC.

be set up in a temple at Hakata. Of Hasegawa
Kumazo there is not much to be said. He follows
the fashions of Seimin and Toun, and many of his
pieces are not at all inferior to the best works of
those artists, but he has never been induced to forge
the cachet of any of the old masters.

Occidental influence has been felt, of course, in
the field of modern Japanese bronze-casting. At a
School of Art officially established in Tokyo in 1873
under the direction of Italian teachers, — a school
which owed its signal failure partly to the incompe-
tence and intemperate behaviour of some of the for-
eign professors, partly to a strong renaissance of pure
Japanese classicism, — one of the few accomplish-
ments successfully taught was that of modelling in
plaster and chiselling in marble after Occidental
methods.1 Marble statues are out of place in the
wooden buildings as well as in the parks of Japan,
and even plaster busts or groups, though less incongru-
ous, have not yet found favour. Hence the skill
undoubtedly possessed by several graduates of the
defunct Art School — notably by Mr. Ogura Sqjiro —
has to be devoted chiefly to a subordinate purpose,
namely, the fashioning of models for metal-casters.
To this combination of modellers in European style
and metal-workers of such force as Suzuki Chokichi
and Okazaki Sessei, Japan owes various memorial
bronzes and likeness effigies which are gradually
finding a place in her parks, her museums, her shrines,
or her private houses. There is here little departure
from the well-trodden paths of Europe. Studies in
drapery, prancing steeds, ideal poses, heads with
fragments of torsos attached (in extreme violation of

1 See Appendix, note 19.

JAPAN

true art), crouching beasts of prey, — all the stereo-
typed styles are reproduced. The imitation is excel-
lent. That is all that can yet be said, though some of
these works suggest that Japanese artists will by-and-
by attain distinction in the new field.

The reader will not have failed to observe that
whereas, in speaking of the early developments of
sculpture in Japan, it has not been possible to draw a
clear line between the carver of wood and the caster
of bronze, the latter has chiefly figured in subsequent
pages of the story. It is, in truth, often difficult to
distinguish them so far as their place in the records
of sculpture is concerned. The bronze-caster some-
times made his own models in wax, sometimes chis-
elled them in wood, and sometimes had recourse to
the aid of the wood-carver. So, too, in modern
times, the best wood-sculptors of the era — as Mitsu-
boshi Riuun and Takamura Koun — lend their chisels
to carve models for metal-casters, just as pictorial artists
like Hashimoto Gaho, Kawabata Giyokusho, and
Nomura Bunkyo, paint subjects to be copied by gold-
smiths and enamellers. These interactions are some-
times recorded, sometimes ignored by the Japanese
themselves, who appear to have always attached
more importance to the result than to the processes
by which it was reached. There is, however, a
certain field of work where the wood-carver stands
alone, namely, architectural decoration for interiors.

The Buddhist temple buildings of Japan in ancient
times, though their architectural outlines were grace-
ful and imposing, had nothing of the elaborate deco-
ration which characterises the sacred edifices of
subsequent centuries. Thus the temple Horiu-ji,
reconstructed in the eighth century, while in many

148

BRONZE-CASTING, ETC.

respects a beautiful model, was without sculptured
decoration in the interior, the only features that re-
lieved its simplicity being dragons coiled round the
four pillars supporting the eaves of the third storey,
and mural paintings. This comparatively plain struc-
ture offers a marked contrast to the wealth of decora-
tive work which, in such buildings as the mausolea
of Nikko and Shiba, the later temple of Kyoto and
many of the mediaeval castles, astonishes and delights
foreign visitors, and will always be classed among the
most attractive achievements of artistic conception
and technical skill that the world possesses. It is
with these specimens of wood-carving that Japanese
sculpture is chiefly associated in the mind of Occi-
dental students, and there would be much interest in
determining the exact date and nature of the impulse
that led architects to depart from the comparatively
austere precedents of early eras. Buddhism itself does
not supply an explanation. It is true that from the
first day of its advent in Japan, Buddhism imparted to
religious observances many elements of splendour and
richness which were entirely absent from the Shinto
ceremonial. The gorgeous vestments of the priests ;
the glowing radiance of the altar and its furniture ;
the elaborate beauty of the temple utensils ; the im-
pressive majesty of the monster images and the glory
of the multitudinous smaller idols with their mys-
terious attributes and varied aspect ; the mystic in-
comprehensibleness of the sutras, and the sensuous
solemnity of the services of chaunted litany and float-
ing incense, — all these things stood in sharp contrast
to the ascetic simplicity and unbending severity of the
Shinto cult. But the Buddhist temple itself, though
its architects had free recourse to the artist's brush for

149

JAPAN

painting door panels, ceiling coffers, and even walls,
and to the lacquerer's hand for decorating pillars and
beams with golden hues and glowing mother-of-pearl,
did not at first excel the Shinto shrine in the matter
of ornamentation so much as it was itself excelled by
the temples and mausolea of the seventeenth century.
In these a profuse wealth of architectural decoration
gave almost boundless scope to the genius of the
painter, the sculptor, the lacquerer, and the worker in
metals. The middle of the sixteenth century is gen-
erally regarded as the approximate date of this new
departure, and undoubtedly the taste for grandeur and
magnificence fostered by Hideyoshi, the Taiko, was
largely responsible. Japanese annalists, indeed, at-
tribute to Nobunaga, Hideyoshi's captain, the first idea
of employing sculpture for the architectural decora-
tion of interiors, and are even so precise as to fix the
very incident that marked the innovation, namely, No-
bunaga's employment of two wood-carvers, Mataemon
and Yuzayemon, to chisel dragons upon the pillars of
a pagoda erected by him. But when it is considered
that within a very few years of Nobunaga's death
(1582), the magnificent ornamentation of the temple
Nishi-Hongwanji in Kyoto was completed, and that
of the mausoleum of lyeyasu at Nikko was com-
menced, and when it is further considered that noth-
ing in the whole range of Japanese decorative art
reaches a higher level of beautiful and skilled elabo-
ration than the pictorial and sculptured work of
these buildings, strong doubts are suggested whether
an idea which had its birth in the second half of the
sixteenth century could have ripened to full maturity
by the beginning of the seventeenth. It seems more
reasonable to conclude that the great carver Hidari

150

B R O N Z E-C A S T I N G, ETC.

Jingoro (left-handed Jingoro), who flourished from
about 1590 to 1634, and who is counted the prince
of Japanese decorative sculptors (miya-shl or miyabori-
shi, as distinguished from busshi, the sculptor of
images), stood, in the natural order of evolution, at
the head of a line of artists whose work, though for
lack of opportunity it made no memorable display,
helped to educate a taste for architectural decoration
and to prepare the way for enterprises which gave
full scope to the genius of Jingoro and his successors.
There is, however, no certainty about these matters.
Broad limits only can be fixed. Thus, while it is
known that the celebrated Silver Pavilion ( Ginkaku-jfy
built by Yoshimasa in 1479, and the even more re-
nowned Golden Pavilion (Kinkakurji) of Yoshimitsu
(constructed in 1397) were entirely without sculp-
tured decoration, it is also known that the temple
Nishi-Hongwan-ji, erected in 1592, and the mau-
soleum of lyeyasu at Nikko (commenced in 1616)
have an unrivalled richness of such ornamentation.
It should be explained clearly, again, that reference is
not made here to architectural applications of pictorial
art. From very early times the services of the painter
had been placed at the disposal of the architect.
Indeed, the reader will have learned from what has
already been written of Japanese pictorial art, that the
painter, whether his picture was to hang in an alcove
or to find its place on the walls, sliding doors, or
screens of an interior, always regarded his work as the
decoration of a panel, and was careful to observe the
limitations as to chiaroscuro and linear perspective that
separate applied art from realistic. The oldest sur-
viving example of pictorial art employed for decora-
tive purposes which dates from the eighth century may

JAPAN

be seen in the ancient temple Horu-ji at Nara, where
the walls of the principal hall have distemper paint-
ings, described as follows by the late Dr. Anderson in
one of the official catalogues of the British Museum: —

The central figure represents a Buddha seated upon a
lotus-throne which is supported by a number of "crouching
dwarfs. The aspect of the Divinity and the position of the
hands (right hand raised, both palms directed forwards) are
in accordance with the image of Amitabha described in a
well-known Japanese work, " Nichi-gwatsu To-myo-Butsu."
On each side of the Buddha stands a Bodhisattva with hands
clasped in prayer. In the foreground are two martial figures
of Deva Kings, and between them two conventional lions.
Four other persons appear behind the Trinity, two of them
having the aspect of Deva Kings, and two that of Arharts,
but the details have become so indistinct from the effects of
time and exposure that identification is very difficult. . . .
The half-obliterated remains still manifest the touch of a
practised hand, and in colouring and composition bear no
small resemblance to the works of the old Italian masters.
The painting is probably the oldest specimen of Buddhist
or other pictorial art extant in Japan, and has, moreover, a
special interest as being one of the very rare examples of the
application of a coloured design directly to the surface of the
plaster wall (the ordinary mural decoration being usually
executed on paper which is afterwards affixed to the wall by
paste). It is not, however, a true fresco.

It was through Buddhism, then, that the Japanese
learned the use of applied pictorial art for purposes of
architectural decoration, and they employed it freely
though not in the sense of fresco-painting, for they
never understood the art of mural painting upon
'freshly laid plaster lime with colour capable of resist-
ing the caustic action of the lime. They attained
much proficiency in the preparation and application

152

B R O N Z E-C A S T I N G, ETC.

of wall plaster, colouring it with delicate taste, em-
ploying many dexterous devices to vary its surface,
and moulding it into diapers, arabesques, and other
designs of much beauty. But painting with colour
mixed with lime remained unknown to them, and
when it is remembered that this method was in use
in Egypt from the very remotest era of that country's
monumental history, that it passed thence to Italy and
Greece, that its extraordinary durability was under-
stood as early as the days of Vitruvius, and that traces
of Grecian influence are plainly discernible in Japan-
ese art, the fact that such an aid to architectural
decoration did not become familiar to the peoples of
the Far East is certainly curious. It would seem,
too, that the distemper painting at Horiu-ji was an
exotic method which never took root in Japan, for
only two other examples of similar work are known
to exist.

The Golden and Silver Pavilions alluded to above
offer good illustrations of the point to which interior
decoration had been carried before the sixteenth
century. The former had three storeys. The lowest
was quite plain, its milk-white timbers and unadorned
walls forming a chaste setting for gilt statuettes of
deities and an effigy of Yoshimitsu himself, which
formed its only furniture. The ceiling of the second
storey was painted with angels (tennin) encircled by a
border of floral scroll. The third storey was com-
pletely gilt, walls, floor, ceiling, and balcony being
covered with gold foil.1 The Silver Pavilion, or, to
speak more correctly, one of its associated buildings,
showed a partial approach to the decorative style
of later eras. The walls had Indian-ink sketches — •

1 See Appendix, note 20.

153

JAPAN

painted not direct on the plaster but on its paper
covering — and the sliding doors were decorated with
figure subjects, landscapes, river-scenes, and birds. But
there was no sculpture, whereas the State apartments
of the great temple Nishi Hongwan-ji in Kyoto,
built at the close of the sixteenth century, show a
stage of architectural decoration almost on a level
with that reached by the designers of the mausolea
at Nikko and Shiba (Tokyo), and show also that there
devolved on the sculptor of that era duties scarcely
less important than those of the painter. Each room
is an independent study, all details subordinated to a
general design. Thus in one chamber the sliding
doors and the lower mural spaces are covered with
paintings of peacocks and cherry-trees in bloom, while
the upper mural spaces are occupied by massive
wooden panels (ramma^ boldly carved in open-work
designs of phoenixes and wild camellia, which stand
out with realistic effect against the dimly transmitted
light of adjoining chambers or corridors. In another
room the pictorial decoration takes the form of
Chinese landscapes on a gold ground, and the upper
parts of the walls have panels carved in a design of
wistaria. The fashion of the decoration may be
sufficiently inferred from these descriptions — pictorial
below, sculptured above. If to these details a coffered
ceiling be added, each coffer enclosing a painted or
carved panel, a general idea is obtained of the archi-
tectural decoration of the sixteenth century as applied
to interiors.

Twenty-five years later, the mausoleum of lyeyasu,
the first Tokugawa Shogun, was erected. There, in
memory of this " Orient-illuminating Prince " (Tosho-
gu), all the decorative and architectural resources of

154

B R O N Z E-C A S T I N G, ETC.

the time were employed to construct a mortuary
chapel at the dedication of which, in 1617, an
Imperial Envoy presided and the Sutra of the Lotus
of the Law was recited ten thousand times by a mul-
titude of priests. This mausoleum, together with the
chapel in memory of the third Tokugawa Shogun,
lyemitsu, also at Nikko, and the mausolea of the
other potentates of the same line at Shiba and Uyeno
in Tokyo, are certainly among the most wonderful
efforts of decorative art that the world possesses.
Words are quite inadequate to convey a just idea
of the combined glory and elegance of the structures,
both externally and internally. Innumerable motives
are represented, in painting, in sculpture, in lacquer
and in metal work, and though the details are so
varied and multitudinous that their description would
fill a large volume, the arrangements and congruity
are so perfect that no sense of confusion or bewilder-
ment is ever suggested. Every available spot or space
has some feature of beauty — coffered ceiling, em-
bossed column, sculptured surface, carved bracket
and beam, silver-capped pendant, gold-sheathed pillar-
neck and beam-crossing, gilded roof-crest and termi-
nal, painted mural space, lacquered door, recesses
crowded with elaborate carvings, gates rich with
sculptured diapers and arabesques and deeply chis-
elled panels — the catalogue is endless. Sometimes,
as in the Haiden of the Tosh~o-gu mausoleum at Nikko,
the ceiling is divided into innumerable coffers, each
filled with the minutest decoration, the whole form-
ing a collection of choice miniatures in rich frames.
Sometimes, as at the temple Nanzen-ji in Kyoto,
a ceiling sixteen hundred square feet in area is painted
with one huge dragon in black and gold.

155

JAPAN

The fertility of the minds that designed these
decorations, the skill of the hands that executed
them, will be as memorable a thousand years hence
as they are to-day. It has sometimes been alleged
that the designer and the sculptor were generally
two, the former being the pictorial artist, the latter
a mere artisan, ranking little higher than a common
carpenter. There are no means of determining how
far that dictum may be trusted. In the Occident the
name of every one connected with such works would
be handed down for respectful remembrance by suc-
ceeding generations ; but in Japan the art-artisan has
always been self-effacing and the nation has quietly
acquiesced in his effacement. His work lives : that
is deemed sufficient.

Among the sculptors engaged upon the splendid
mausolea of the Tokugawa Shoguns and other archi-
tectural achievements of the seventeenth century,
which was certainly the golden era of decorative
carving, not half a dozen names have been preserved.
At their head stands Hidari Jingoro (left-handed
Jingoro). His very appellation indicates the scanty
consideration extended to him. It is as though an
artist in America or England should be generally
spoken of as " Left-handed Bill " or " Wall-eyed
Tom." There is nevertheless an element of justice
in the measure of esteem extended to Jingoro and
his fellow-sculptors, for although as carvers of flowers,
foliage, and birds, they have no superiors in other
lands, it is certain that their representations of figure
subjects and animals would not have won for them
in Western countries greater renown than they received
in Japan.

Among the carvings that decorate the mausoleum

B R O N Z E-C A S T I N G, ETC.

of lyeyasu at Nikko, for example, a sleeping cat and
two elephants are shown as remarkable specimens of
Jingoro's skill. He must not be held responsible for
the grotesquely false shapes and proportions of the
elephants : no Japanese artist has ever drawn an
elephant that resembled the real animal, and Jingoro
merely followed designs by the celebrated painter
Kano Tanyu. But if neither Tanyu nor Jingoro
ever saw a live elephant or had any opportunity
of studying its true shape, that excuse cannot be
pleaded in the case of the cat, and it must be frankly
stated that Jingoro's celebrated cat would never attract
admiring attention were it removed from the panel
where it has slept for nearly three centuries in a
bower of buds and leaves.

Another much belauded work from Jingoro's chisel
is the Chokushi-mon (Gate of the Imperial Envoy) at
the Nishi-Hongwan temple in Kyoto. On the
outer panels the sculptor has depicted figures of
Taoist Rishi ; on the inner, the Chinese sage who
washed his ear because it had been polluted by a
proposal that he should ascend the throne of his
country, and the equally austere cowherd who quar-
relled with the sage for thus defiling a river. These
figures are not fine sculptures : the most benevolent
critic cannot be blind to their defects. Yet on the
panels of a gate every part of which has its place in a
general scheme of decoration, the carvings are admir-
able objects. That is the first point to be noted about
all the sculptured work in the decoration of Japanese
temples and mausolea. Sometimes the realistic illu-
sion is complete. Peonies glow with lusty life in a
coffer ; chrysanthemums raise slender tendrils from a
cornice ; cranes, wild fowl, or phoenixes actually fly

157

JAPAN

from their wooden niches, and plum-trees seem to
grow on a panel. But the general rule is that the
sculptures do not gain by independent scrutiny. It
is in their subordinate role that they command
charmed enthusiasm. The statement is in itself a
high tribute to the decorative genius of the Japanese,
but it involves also the conclusion that the subjective
element had to be almost entirely abolished from the
work of the sculptor, and that his highest success was
achieved when his efforts showed least individuality.

As to the general character of the designs chosen
by painters and sculptors for the adornment of these
temples and mausolea, an excellent criticism is con-
tained in the introduction to Mr. J. Conder's unpub-
lished work on Japanese architecture : —

Behind the general impression of harmony produced by
the decorated architecture as it existed and still exists in the
best examples of the Buddhist style, there is revealed, upon
careful analysis, a combination of curiously incongruous ele-
ments. The weird and the grotesque are blended with the
severe and the natural. Archaic forms, which one must follow
back to Indian creeds for their original meaning, are quaintly
combined with free and flowing natural forms. Demons,
monsters, and crude conventional representations of foreign
or imaginary animals are painted side by side with the birds,
flowers, and landscapes of the changing seasons. The sub-
tle elements of wind, cloud, water, and spray are in one place
represented in definite conventional lines which convey but a
vague idea of their respective force and motive, and in an-
other place by soft dreamy touches and blurred effects.
There is everywhere to be traced the influence upon an
artistic Oriental mind of the beautiful forms and colours of
the mundane universe, combined with the external influence
upon his imagination of the Buddhist religion, dictating awe-
inspiring shapes and mysterious symbols which he accepted
and depicted as a portion of his superstitious belief and

158

B R O N Z E-C A S T I N G, ETC.

homage. Decoration was developed in buildings of different
type in accordance with a system by which it was divided
into three or four degrees of elaboration, the highest degree
of richness being reserved for the temples and mausolea.
The painter's art appears in the delicate forms and soft tints
of birds and blossoms cushioned in the white wood-work of
princes' chambers, and it may be seen also in deeper bolder
tones, amid a pandemonium of saints and demons, sacred
monsters, celestial flowers and symbols, set in gilded and
lacquered framing, adorning the gloomy interior of religious
shrines.

Colours were freely used in these decorative
schemes. Thus, in the sanctuary of the Tosho-gu
mausoleum at Nikko, wide fields of silver and gold,
occupying the lower parts of the walls, underlie beams
diapered in vermilion, leaf-back green, cerulean blue,
and dead white. Broad frieze spaces in deep rich
red are interrupted by oval medallions enclosing
delicately chiselled designs of birds and flowers picked
out with red, gold, green, blue, and touches of white.
Above these and stretching from capital to capital of
the pillars, are formal diapers in green, red, and gold,
with intervening floral scrolls in gold and green on a
chocolate-brown ground ; the pillars, whose capitals
have belts of fern-fronds in red, green, blue, and white,
and fillets of blue and gold, support golden beams,
and above the latter rises an arched entablature pro-
fusely carved and decorated, and brilliantly coloured
in all the hues mentioned above. Finally, this
wealth of soft tints and elaborate fancies is separated
from the ceiling by a concave cornice uniformly gilt,
through which runs horizontally a solid ribbed beam
of noir-mat lacquer. The ceiling is coffered with a
framework in gold and black. The coffers, of
which the ground colour is gold, have a border of

159

JAPAN

cloud scroll in green, white, and red, and the centre
of each is occupied by an elliptic medallion in purest
cerulean blue, enclosing a golden dragon and having
for border two narrow rings of white and chocolate-
brown. This is little more than a mere catalogue of
colours. It conveys not even a shadowy idea of the
beauty and brilliancy of such a decorative masterpiece,
glowing and palpitating with luxury of tint and pro-
fusion of detail from floor to architrave, until in the
ceiling medallions the spectator seems to be gazing
into the blue profundity of a sky where glittering
monsters sweep through space. But the reader will
gather even from such an imperfect description some
notion of the profusion with which colours and
sculpture were employed in the architectural decora-
tion of interiors. It does not appear that the Japanese
artist had any definitely formulated theories about the
use of colours. He does not even seem to have ex-
plicitly recognised the differences of primary, second-
ary, or tertiary, or to have possessed any clear rules
about chromatic equivalents. Yet it would be possi-
ble to deduce from his practice many of the princi-
ples that are now regarded as fundamental in the
science of Occidental decorative art. Thus his idea
of distribution was so just that, in using the primary
colours, he limited the areas and quantities of their
application by careful consideration of the total space
to be decorated, in order that the requisite balance
and support might be obtained by proportionately
larger masses of secondary and tertiary tints. It may
be objected that he neglected this principle in the
exterior decoration of some of his sacred edifices, as
the pagodas at Nikko, for example, where a massive,
towering structure is robed from base to summit in

1 60

(.SI I egfiq 992)
.09 1 1 ,.; :ntq!ira2 ,3EV9b s

srft ^o sno to (booW)

IMAGE.

(See page 1 1 3.)
(Wood) of one of the twelve devas. Sculptured by Kokel, 1 1 90. Preserved at Kofuku-JI.

B R O N Z E-C A S T I N G, ETC.

vermilion red. But any criticism of that nature is
silenced at once when these edifices are considered
with reference to their environment, — a profusion of
green foliage, which effectually balances the primary
colour of the pagoda. It is found, also, on careful
examination of the mausolea at Shiba, Uyeno, and
Nikko, that the primary colours appear on the upper
parts of objects, the secondary and tertiary on the
lower ; that proportion is successfully preserved be-
tween the volumes of full and low tones ; that the
art of separating coloured ornaments from fields of
contrasting colour is thoroughly understood ; that the
solecism of mutually impinging colours is strictly
avoided ; that the tone of ground colours is in excel-
lent harmony with the quantity of ornament, and
that the ensemble presents that neutralised bloom which
indicates perfect blending of tones and tints.

As already stated, there are few records of great
sculptors connected with architectural or religious
carvings in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
although such remarkable work was accomplished.
Hidari Jingoro died in 1635. Among his successors
the best remembered are Hidari Eishin (1632—1700),
Shoun ( 1 660-1 705), Tancho ( 1630-1 695), and Hidari
Katsumasa (1670-1727). Other names are included
in an appended list, but the recorded number of
artists is quite insignificant when compared with the
quantity of fine work executed from the beginning
of the seventeenth to the middle of the nineteenth
century. The subordination of the individual to
achievement is specially marked in the field of deco-
rative carvings for temples and mausolea.

VOL. VII. II

Chapter V

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

IN a previous chapter some account has been given
of the origin and development of the sacred
mime, of its connection with the bucolic dance,
and of the gradual rise of the den-gaku and the
saru-gaku. From the second half of the fourteenth
century, when the Ashikaga Shogun Yoshimitsu ruled
in Kyoto, the saru-gaku became an almost necessary
feature of all social entertainments among the upper
classes; and in the time of Yoshimasa (1449-1472)
four families, Kwanze, Kamparu, H5sho, and Kongo,
were publicly recognised as the possessors of all the
best traditions and methods of the mimetic art. The
great captain, Oda Nobunaga, and his still greater
contemporary, Hideyoshi, the Taiko, were ardent
patrons of the saru-gaku, dancing it themselves with
the utmost earnestness. The Taiko, studied under
Gosho, the master expert of his era, and danced to
the accompaniment of a song specially composed (the
Akechi-uchi koya-mode) in commemoration of his vic-
tory over the traitorous slayer of Nobunaga. Thence-
forth to be able to take a part in the saru-gaku — or
the No, as these dances were usually called in later
times — became an absolutely essential accomplish-
ment of every feudal chief, court noble, or samurai of
rank. It has to be remembered that although the
Japanese are intensely fond of spectacular displays,

162

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

the public theatre did not come into existence until
the seventeenth century, and never, until quite recent
times, was regarded as a proper resort for the upper
classes. By way of compensation private theatri-
cals had extensive vogue, not private theatricals
in the Occidental sense of the term, but mimetic
dances representing historical, mythological, poetical,
and legendary scenes, or ideal renderings of natural
phenomena. Such were the stately and picturesque
no-gaku, supplemented by farcical interludes called
no-kyogen. From the sixteenth century the canons
of refined hospitality prescribed that every one with
aristocratic pretensions should be able to offer to his
guests an entertainment of that nature, or to take part
in it himself when bidden elsewhere. Nothing could
exceed the magnificence of the costumes worn by the
performers or the richness of all the accessories ;
and since complete disguise was absolutely essential
to the realistic effect of such mimes, the mask
possessed paramount importance. Reference may be
made en passant to a misconception endorsed by more
than one student of Japanese customs, namely, that
the use of the mask in the theatre was a habit in
Japan as it had been in Greece. The mask in Japan
is not a theatrical adjunct, its employment is limited
to the sphere of mimetic dances. The professional
actor never wears a mask except for the purpose of
figuring in the dances that often occupy the intervals
of the drama. It is commonly believed in Japan that
wooden masks were used at times as remote as the
seventh century, and that the earliest of them repre-
sented the features of Uzume, the divine danseuse
whose spirited performance drew the Sun Goddess from
her cave. But the oldest surviving specimens date

163

JAPAN

from the ninth, tenth, and twelfth centuries. They
are preserved in a temple on the sacred island of
Miyajima (now called Itsukushima), and they show
that even in such remote eras the sculptor possessed
great skill in delineating the human countenance
under the influence of emotion. To later eras, how-
ever — the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth
centuries — belong a wonderful series of masks which
constitute a special outcome of Japanese sculpture.
Every aristocratic household and every Buddhist or
Shinto parish possessed a store of these masks. It is
difficult to conceive any type of face, any display of
passion, any exhibition of affection, of fury, of cruelty,
of benevolence, of voluptuousness, of imbecility, that
these masks do not reproduce with remarkable real-
ism. Japanese catalogues set forth two hundred and
sixty masks, each of which has a distinguishing ap-
pellation and is recognised as the work of an
expert. The art of the sculptor was not exercised
merely in modelling the features. His work was
counted imperfect unless he fashioned the mask
so that it could be worn by any one for a lengthy
period without discomfort. There can be no doubt
that the great success achieved in carving masks and
the moving effect of their skilled use in association
with the highly trained gesticulation and posturing,
the splendid costumes and the weird music of the
saru-gaku and the no-gaku, exercised a potent influence
on the methods of the professional actor of the
theatre proper. He did not wear an artificial mask,
but he sought to mould his features into a mask-like
picture of concentrated emotion, thus establishing a
vivid link between his performance and the classic
mime of aristocracy.

164

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

Masks carved by celebrated experts are among the
most valued treasures of aesthetic Japan. They are
wrapped in silk and preserved in lacquered boxes with
all the care appropriate to fine works of art ; and they
deserve such attention, for in this class of sculpture
Japan stands unequalled and unapproached by any
other country. Miniature reproductions of classic
types, carved in ivory, wood, or metal, sometimes
merely as examples of skilled sculpture, sometimes
in groups of two or more to form netsuke, — presently
to be spoken of, — and sometimes as ornaments for
sword-furniture, are included in many foreign assem-
blages of Japanese art-objects, but the finest masks of
the mimetic dance have seldom come within reach
of Western collectors.

The names and dates of celebrated mask-carvers
are these : —

x,. , - I tenth century. Only a few masks by these ex-
Y , I perts are extant.

Bunzo — thirteenth century. A Buddhist priest.

Hibi Munetada (called Hibi because he worked at Hibi
in Etchiu) — fourteenth century. Carved meagre faces
skilfully.

Echi Yoshifune — fourteenth century.

Koushi, or Kiyomitsu — fifteenth century.

Shakuzuru (called also Yoshinari and Ittosai, art name) —
fourteenth century. Celebrated for faces of warriors.

Ishikawa Riuyemon Shigemasa — fourteenth century. Cele-
brated for masks of women and children.

Tokuwaka Tadamasa — fifteenth century. Specially skilled
in planting hair.

Sanko — fifteenth century. A Buddhist priest.

N. B. The above are distinguished as Jissaku, or " true
sculptors."

.65

JAPAN

Soami Hisatsugu — fifteenth and sixteenth centuries (said to

have lived in the time of Yoshimasa).
Chigusa — sixteenth century. Celebrated for masks of

deities.

Fukurai Masatomo — fifteenth century. Masks of old men.
Horai Ujitoki — fifteenth century. Masks of female faces.
Haruwaka Tadatsugu — sixteenth century. Masks of young

faces.
Uwo Hyoye — sixteenth century. Masks of old men and

demons.

N. B. The above, from Soami to Uwo, are called the
" Six Sculptors " (Roku-saku).

INTERMEDIATE SCULPTORS (<< CHIU-SAKU")

Jiunin — sixteenth century.

Miyano — sixteenth century.

Sairen (a priest) — sixteenth century.

Kichijo-in (a priest) — sixteenth century.

Kaku-no-bo — sixteenth century. Had the art title of Ten-

ka-ichi, and is counted an eminent sculptor.
Boya Magojiuro ) date uncertain_
Dansho j

Gunkei — twelfth century.
Kasuga Tori — eighth century. A celebrated sculptor of

Buddhist images who is supposed to have carved masks of

Okina.

Tankai Rishi (or Hozan) — seventeenth century.
Shimizu Rinkei — a pupil of Tankai. %

Shoun — (1647-1700).

THE DEME FAMILY

Deme Jikan Yoshimitsu. Called also Ono, or Kizan or
Sukezaemon — sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Ori-
ginally an armourer of Echizen, he became a sculptor of
masks after moving to Yamashiro. In 1595 received the
art title of Tenka-ichi from the Taikb. Entered the
Takugawa service and died in 1616.

1 66

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

Deme Yukan Mitsuyasu — seventeenth century (d. 1652).
Son of Jikan. Called also Sukezaemon.

Deme Tohaku Mitsutaka — seventeenth and eighteenth cen-
. turies (d. 1715).

Deme Tosui Mitsunori — seventeenth and eighteenth cen-
turies (d. 1729). Called also Mokunosuke, Manku, and
Mambi.

Deme Hokan Mitsunao — eighteenth century (d. 1743).
Called Hanzo.

Deme Yusai Yasuhisa — eighteenth century (d. 1766).

Deme Choun Yasuyoshi — eighteenth century (d. 1774).
Called also Makunosuke.

Deme Toun Yasutaka — nineteenth century. Called also
Untaro.

Deme Hanzo Yasukore — nineteenth century.

THE THREE "ECHIZEN DEME"

Deme Jirozaemon Mitsuteru — sixteenth century.
Deme Jirozaemon Norimitsu — seventeenth century.
Deme Jirozaemon Yoshimitsu — seventeenth century. Called

also Genjiro.
Deme Gensuke Hidemitsu — seventeenth century. Called

also Joshin, or Jokei.
Deme Genkiu Mitsunaga — seventeenth century (d. 1672).

Son of Jokei. Called also Ko-Genkiu (the old Genkiu)

and Manyei.
Deme Genkiu Mitsushige — seventeenth and eighteenth

centuries (d. 1719).

Deme Genkiu Mitsufusa — eighteenth century (d. 1758).
Deme Genkiu Mitsuzane — eighteenth and nineteenth cen-
turies (d. in 1812).
Deme Naka Mitsuyuki — nineteenth century. Called also

Taroyemon.

Deme Gensuke Mitsuakira — nineteenth century.
Deme Genri Yoshimitsu — seventeenth century (d. 1625).
Deme Genri Toshimitsu — seventeenth century.

JAPAN

OTHER CELEBRATED MASK-CARVERS

Izeki Kawachi lyeshige — seventeenth century (d. 1646).

Yamato Mamori (a pupil of Kawachi).

Izeki Jirozaemon — eighteenth century. Had the rank of

Kazusa-no-suke and was also called Chikanobu and Kiu-

shiu. He was accorded the honorary title of Tenka-ichi.
Omiva Yamato Bokunyu — seventeenth century (d. 1672).

Had the honorary title of Tenka-ichi.
Kodama Omi Mitsumasa — seventeenth century (d. 1624).

Had the title of 'Tenka-ichi and was called also Mansho.
Miyata Chikugo (a pupil of Mansho).
Kodama Choyemon Tomomitsu — seventeenth century (son

of Omi).

Kodama Choyemon Yoshimitsu — eighteenth century.
Senshu Yashamaru — fifteenth century. Had the rank of

Tama-no-Kami and the additional name of Yorisada.
Senshiu Yoriyoshi — fifteenth century. Had the rank of

lyo-no-Kami. This artist was the younger brother of the

priest Sanko, mentioned above. The two Senshiu were

the ancestors of the Deme family of Echizen.
Ariyoshi Nagato rib Sbo — nineteenth century. A samurai

of the Miyatsu fief, who attained distinction as a chiseller

of masks.

Several amateurs gained distinction as carvers of
masks, but no accurate list of their names has been
preserved.

Belonging strictly to the category of costume, but
elevated to the rank of art-products by the beauty of
their workmanship and the wealth of fancy lavished
on their modelling and ornamentation, the netsuke,
ojime, kagami-buta, kana-mono, and kuda-kusari must be
accorded a high place in any account of Japanese
sculpture. The dress of the Japanese having no
pockets, except the recesses of the sleeves, which
could not be used for anything heavy, it has been the

168

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

custom, from a remote era, to attach to the girdle
various objects of every-day service. The most an-
cient of these is the kincbaku, or money-pouch. Of
course in the days when media of exchange were
practically limited to strings of copper cash much too
bulky and cumbrous to be carried on the person, a
money-pouch was a useless article to the middle and
lower classes. But to aristocratic and wealthy folks,
who made their payments with gold dust or coins of
the precious metals, the kinchaku was more or less
necessary. After a time, however, it ceased to be
much employed as a monetary receptacle, its place
being taken by a kind of pocket-book carried in the
bosom. The kinchaku did not go out of vogue,
however. It now became a part of a child's costume,
and served to contain an amulet and a wooden ticket
on which were inscribed the name and address of the
child's parents, the little one being thus placed under
the protection of heaven, on the one hand, and of
kindly folks who might find it straying or in trouble,
on the other. That is now the chief function per-
formed by the kinchaku, though its original use as a
money-bag is still perpetuated by old ladies. As part
of a child's toilet it is often a very beautiful affair,
made of richly embroidered silk or costly brocade,
and the method of attachment to the girdle is simply
by tying. But tradition says that when men used the
kincbaku, they preferred to keep it in its place by the
aid of a kind of button. The strings of the pouch
being fastened to this button, the latter was passed
under the girdle and brought out above it so as to
offer an effective obstacle to the withdrawal of the
pouch without the; owner's cognisance. The pouch
itself may have been a simple affair in ancient times.

169

JAPAN

There is no information on that subject ; but when
the elaborate and beautiful character of Japanese cos-
tume at so remote a date as the eighth century is
remembered, there seems reason to suppose that the
quality and ornamentation of the kinchaku were not
incongruous with the garments it accompanied. At
all events it is known that by the middle of the
seventeenth century the choice of material for the
manufacture of the kinchaku and of the other objects
suspended from a gentleman's girdle — objects known
generically as sage-mono >, or suspended things — had
become a business demanding as much delicacy of
judgment and causing as great a mental strain as a
Western belle's selection of her first ball-dress. It is
mentioned, in a Chinese record of old-time official-
dom and its functions, that the duty of collecting
various kinds of furs and skins in the autumn, and
presenting them to the Imperial Court in the spring,
occupied the constant attention of an important bu-
reau. The Japanese Imperial Court was never suffi-
ciently wealthy or sufficiently luxurious to follow that
example ; but the extraordinary development of re-
fined taste among aristocratic classes under the feudal
system is aptly illustrated by the fact that in records
dating from the seventeenth century, no less than
ninety-three different kinds of leathers and furs are
enumerated and carefully described as orthodox ma-
terials for sage-mono. Of these, ten were of Japanese
manufacture, the others being imported from China,
India, Persia, Ceylon, Luson, Russia, Holland, and
elsewhere. No attempt has ever been made to iden-
tify these leathers, and even if sufficient inducements
offered, the task would scarcely be possible, seeing
that many of the skins, after reaching Japan, were

170

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

subjected to processes which must have effectually
obscured their provenance. For example, one kind,
having been macerated some ten times with juice
extracted from the bark of the peach-tree, was then
dyed with a solution of gall-nut and sulphate of iron,
after which it was polished with a pumice-stone,
treated with plum-juice, and finally softened by hand-
rubbing. Reference to these materials is made here,
not for the purpose of discussing their origin or char-
acteristics, but solely because they illustrate the care
and taste bestowed on the sage-mono. It must not be
supposed, however, that all these curious and pretty
materials were imported or manufactured for the sake
of the klnchaku alone. The klnchaku is given a
prominent place among the sage-mono because it seems
to have been the oldest of such objects. In impor-
tance it was quite secondary to the tobacco-pouch and
pipe-case. Tobacco-pouches and pipe-cases, how-
ever, are comparatively modern affairs. Whether the
Japanese learned to smoke tobacco when Hideyoshi's
troops invaded Korea, or whether they received it
from their first Occidental visitors, the Portuguese,
they certainly knew nothing of the virtues and vices
of the leaf until the closing years of the sixteenth
century, nor was it till the middle of the seventeenth
that the pouch and the pipe began to assume the
dainty and highly ornate forms now so familiar. To-
bacco did not originally commend itself to polite
society in Japan. Sir Ernest Satow, quoting from
the family records of a certain Dr. Saka, describes
that, in the year 1609, the dissipation of tobacco-
smoking led to the formation of two associations in
Edo (Tokyo), the Bramble Club and the Leather-
breeches Club. Their members were roistering blades

171

JAPAN

who loved to indulge in the pastime known as
" painting the town red," or, still better, to fight
with each other, when the toughness of the leather-
breeches " was supposed to be more than a match for
the tenacity of " brambles." The pipes used by
these swashbucklers were from four to five feet long.
They thrust them into their girdles after the manner
of swords, and employed them as cudgels when occa-
sion offered. No transition could have been more
signal than the passage from these monster pipes to
the tiny little kiseru of later eras, which held about
as much tobacco as could be piled on the nail of a
young lady's little finger, and were perfect bijoux in
the matter of shapeliness and decoration. Even after
several vain official attempts to check the spread of
the tobacco habit had been abandoned as abortive and
unnecessary, some time elapsed before polite folk be-
gan to carry pouches and pipes at their girdles, for
smoking in the open air was not practised, and on
entering a friend's home the visitor expected to have
a tobacco-tray set before him, and would as soon have
thought of smoking a pipe of his own tobacco as of
taking from his sleeve a packet of tea and a teapot to
brew his own beverage. Were it known exactly
when the habit of attaching pipes and pouches to the
girdle became fashionable, the origin of the beautiful
ornaments connected with this class of sage-mono
might be discussed with some confidence. But there
are pictures extant which show that, as late as the
middle of the seventeenth century, a lady's pipe —
for by that time ladies had fallen victims to the se-
ductive habit — was so long that it had to be carried
by an attendant, and the inevitable conclusion is that
the miniature pipe and its charming concomitants —

172

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

case, pouch, toggle (netsuke), cord-clutch (pjime), and
so forth — did not come into existence till the close
of that century.

There is another girdle-pendant (sage-mono") long
antecedent to the pipe and pipe-pouch, — a pendant to
which some authorities assign a greater age than even
that of the kinchaku, — namely, the inro. Origi-
nally, as its name implies, a little bag or wicker-
work receptacle for holding the seal (in signifies seal,
and ro, a bamboo basket) which in Japan took the
place of a written signature, the inro was subsequently
made of wood, lacquered black ; and thereafter being
converted into a tiny medicine chest, took the form
of a tier of segments, each fitting into the other verti-
cally, so that the whole, when put together, became a
many-receptacled little box, from three to four inches
long and two or two and a half inches wide, its
corners rounded and its thickness reduced so that it
was always handy and never obtrusive. There have
been enthusiastic collectors of inro, both foreign and
Japanese. It is a taste with which every virtuoso must
sympathise, for as specimens of exquisitely artistic
and infinitely painstaking decoration in lacquer, in-
laying, and sculpture, these tiny medicine-boxes de-
serve unstinted praise. For the moment, however,
attention may be directed to the appendages of the
inro rather than to the inro itself. The edges of the
two long faces carried a little cylinder, just large
enough to admit a silken cord, the ends of which
were passed, immediately above the inro, through an
ojime, or cord-clutch. There is reason to think that
the ojime was the first highly ornate appendage of
both the inro and the kinchaku, for it occupies in the
latter also the same place as in the inro and serves the

173

JAPAN

same purpose. As a general rule it was simply a
bead of some substance regarded as precious by the
Japanese, though occasionally it was made of cloisonne
enamel, porcelain (Chinese), gold, silver, shakudo,
shibuichiy ivory, wood, or the kernel of a peach, mi-
croscopic sculpture being added in the case of the
last seven substances. No less than sixty-four differ-
ent kinds of minerals and other matters were used to
form these beads when the beauty of the substance
alone was relied on. Among them were coral (pink,
white, and black), amber, lapis lazuli, pearl, rock-
crystal, aventurine, agate, marble, garnet, malachite,
the skull of the crane, and prehnite. These details
are mentioned for the purpose of showing how large
a measure of care was bestowed on the appurtenances
of the tnro, and how unlikely it was that the button
in which the ends of the silken cord were united for
passage through the girdle would have been less
ornate than the bead just spoken of. In point of fact
the button of the inro did assume the form of the
beautiful object called netsuke (ne means " root " or
" end," and tsuke, to fasten) as early as the end of the
fifteenth century, when the dilettante Shogun Yoshi-
masa set to the nation an example of luxury and
elegance in almost every department of daily life.
There has been circulated in Europe a theory that
the introduction of tobacco in the sixteenth century
called the netsuke into existence, its original use being
to serve as a button for the tobacco-pouch ; and it
has further been suggested that the chiselling of the
netsuke would never have been carried to such a
degree of elaboration had not a great number of idol-
carvers found themselves without occupation during
the second half of the seventeenth century. The

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

latter idea is based on the fact that the second Toku-
gawa Sbogun, Hidetada (1605-1623), in connection
with his crusade against Christianity, ordered every
household throughout the realm to furnish itself with
a Buddhist idol, and that when the extraordinary de-
mand thus created had been satisfied, the busshi, being
without employment, turned their attention to chisel-
ling tobacco-pouch buttons. But Japanese authori-
ties are agreed that the netsuke became fashionable as
an appendage of the inro long before the tobacco-
pouch began to be suspended from the girdle. An-
other error which has found currency in the same
context, and which has helped to build up the theory
connecting the netsuke with the sculptor of Buddhist
idols is that many netsuke-shi (makers of netsuke} lived
and worked at Nara, the chief home of idol-makers.
It is certainly true that Nara may be called the birth-
place of Japanese sculpture, and that, from the
twelfth century onwards, the name " Nara " came to
be associated with religious sculpture, just as in later
times pottery was called seto-mono after the place
(Seto) of its chief production. It is also true that
among the celebrated productions of Nara — the Nara
meibutsu, as they are called — there have long been
included miniature images known as Nara riingyo
(Nara puppets) which might easily be supposed to
have suggested the earliest form of the netsuke. But
the Nara ningyo were not connected with the netsuke,
and as for the assertion that many netsuke-shi lived at
Nara and that the carver of Buddhist images turned
his chisel to the netsuke in default of other work, it
is enough to say that the records, down to the end
of the eighteenth century, do not contain the name
of more than two netsu ^-carvers who resided at

175

JAPAN

Nara, and that they include only one sculptor of the
busshi class. With exceptions so rare as to prove the
rule, the netsuke-shi had their workshops in one of
" the three cities " — Yedo, Kyoto, and Osaka — and
confined themselves mainly to ornamenting the ap-
pendages of sage-mono. Reference may be made here
to another strange theory which has been advanced
by more than one European writer, that many netsuke-
makers were dentists whose skill in the use of the
chisel was acquired by carving false teeth. In the
long list of early netsuke-shi there are only two
who were in any way connected with the dentist's
profession.

It may appear that disproportionate attention is
here devoted to the question of the origin of the net-
suke and the ojime, but the fact is that no objects of
art found in Japan are more essentially Japanese,
whether their range of fanciful motives be considered,
or the extraordinary dexterity of their carvers, or their
originality. India, borrowing the art from Persia,
developed much skill in carving, piercing, and inlaying
long before the Japanese netsuke came into exist-
ence, and the Chinese, from an early epoch, sculp-
tured tusks and slabs of ivory in the most elaborate
manner, carrying their craft to the extent of cutting
puzzle- balls, one inside the other, out of a single piece
of ivory. But the Japanese netsuke and ojime belong to
an entirely different category from the productions of
India, China, or Persia. No one thinks of making
a collection of the latter : half-a-dozen specimens
suffice to illustrate the art of each country ; a greater
number would be wearisome. In the case of the
netsuke, however, it is scarcely possible to possess too
many. Inevitably the same subject is often repeated

176

'-{HI TA TFAO 3HT

Q 3-HT riO 3MO

ONE OF THE DEVA KINGS GUARDING THE GATE AT THE

TEMPLE TODAI-JI.

(See paga 1 13.)

Sculptor Kwaikei, pupil of Unkei, 1180-1220.

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

without marked variation of treatment ; but the
range of conception is so large, the motives display
such a wealth of fancy, realistic, conventional, grave,
humorous, and grotesque, that the collector perpetu-
ally finds some new source of admiration, instruction,
or amusement. If Japan had given to the world
nothing but the netsuke, there would still be no diffi-
culty in differentiating the bright versatility of her
national genius from the comparatively sombre,
mechanic, and unimaginative temperament of the
Chinese. These delightful statuettes often represent
deities, figures from the myth-land of Taoism, Bud-
dhism, and Brahmanism, demons, gnomes, and other
subjects already found in the gallery of familiar sculp-
tures. But they also represent scenes from the
homely, every-day life of the people, so simply and
realistically treated that they play in glyptic art the
same role as genre painting does in pictorial. Their
carvers drew further inspiration from the whole range
of natural objects. Birds, animals, reptiles, leaves,
flowers, fishes, and insects all were reproduced with
extraordinary fidelity and artistic taste. The netsuke,
the ukiyo-ye, and the chromo-xylograph, which have
already been discussed, and the sword-furniture which
will be presently described, prove conclusively what
a profound sense of beauty and instinct of art must
have permeated the whole mass of the Japanese
people, and how the best qualities of the decorative
artist were educated to such an extent as ultimately
to become innate in craftsman and critic alike.

Ivory has been spoken of above as though it were
the principal material of the netsuke. But the best
work was done in wood — cherry-wood, boxwood,
sandalwood (shitan}, or ebony (kokutari). Bone, horn

I 2

JAPAN

(deer, antelope, or ox), vegetable and walrus ivory,
peach-stones, walnuts, and the skull of the crane
(hoten] were also used. Perhaps the finest carving is
to be found in cherry-wood netsuke, though those in
boxwood derive special beauty from the silky texture
assumed by the surface when carefully polished.
Walnuts and peach-stones were generally chiselled in
low relief, the favourite subjects being semin (Taoist
genii), arhats (disciples of Buddha), the Seven Deities
of Fortune, Benten and her children, and other
motives involving a number of figures. The skull of
the Chinese crane, which resembles snow-white wax
marked with fine hair-lines, receives a certain myste-
rious admiration from ignorant Japanese, who, judg-
ing by its name, — the heavenly phoenix, — associate
it with the fabulous hoo (phoenix). It has always
been comparatively rare, and was a favourite material
for carving masks, especially that of the jolly, sensu-
ous goddess Uzume, or the fabulous Bacchanalian man-
monkey, Shojo — the blood-red plates on either side
of the skull being cleverly brought into the scheme
of the carving so as to represent the hair of the divin-
ity or the monster.

The earliest carvers of netsuke were evidently
influenced by considerations of utility. They saw
that to serve its purpose of sustaining the girdle-
pendant the netsuke should have greater length than
bulk, and they accordingly took their designs from
old legends telling of supernatural or monstrous
beings, — flying dragons, lamp-bearing demons, the
dragon god, the demon-slayer (Sh'okt), Kwan Yu (the
Chinese god of war), the kirin, the Taoist genii, and
such things. Their figure subjects were always amply
draped, the nude being tabooed by the sculptor as

178

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

well as by the painter. Great skill was exercised in
the treatment of the drapery and the pose of the
figure. But it was on the chiselling of the face that
the artist expended most care, and the result justified
his toil ; for he succeeded in producing wonderful
conceptions of the wrinkled recluse, the semi-savage
and wholly appalling dragon-deity, the relentless yet
beneficent demon-slayer, the malevolent ogre, the
phrensied thunder-god, and the inane elf of the moun-
tains. Very soon he extended his repertoire of motives.
Masks naturally suggested themselves as capable of
being grouped into various shapes, and netsuke of that
form are often of the highest quality. Then followed
carvings of the Seven Deities of Fortune, sometimes
singly, sometimes grouped together ; of saru-gaku
dancers ; of fishes and aquatic plants ; of mermaids ;
of men in armour ; of the twelve signs of the zodiac ;
of barn-door fowl, and so forth. Foreign influence,
in the beginning of the eighteenth century, seems to
have temporarily checked the development of Japan-
ese fancy in this branch of art, for it became fashion-
able to use the handles of Chinese seals, and sometimes
the whole seal, as a netsuke. The Japanese, when
they obey their own instincts, are seldom guilty of a
solecism. They would not have appended a seal to
a tobacco-pouch as a proper adjunct. But if the fact
be recalled that the inro was originally a receptacle
for a seal and for a little box of vermilion-ink paste,
it is easy to understand how Chinese seals came to be
regarded as appropriate toggles for the inro, and how
their employment in that capacity was extended to
the tobacco-pouch. In Chinese work of this descrip-
tion there is a total absence of the naturalistic pathos,
playful idealism, and human interest, which charac-

179

JAPAN

terise the Japanese. The Chinese sculptor is not
without humour, but his fancy seems to be always
trammelled by grim practicality and narrow conven-
tionalism. His influence upon Japanese sculptors
was not wholesome, and they soon rebelled against it.
Here, however, there is one point that attracts atten-
tion. The Chinese had a certain appreciation of the
nude in sculpture. Among these seal-handle carv-
ings — which, it must be remembered, were consid-
ered worthy of the finest workmanship that could be
bestowed on them and of the costliest material
available — nude female figures occur not infrequently.
But it would be very difficult to determine whether
grace of form or sensuous suggestion was the sculp-
tor's objective in choosing such motives. His man-
ner of treatment leaves the question exceedingly
doubtful. At all events, he found no imitators in
Japan. The nude never appealed to the Japanese
sculptor. His realistic creed often appears in his
manner of disposing the drapery of a peasant mother's
dress or the skirts of a lady caught in a gust of wind
and rain, but it is evident either that he failed to
appreciate the exquisite curves of the female form,
though in all other directions beauty and force of
line constitute his special excellence, or that he
associated the nude with the erotic. There is a por-
nographic side to his work, but it is of the most
unequivocal character. He never stood upon that
hazy border line of aestheticism and voluptuousness
that runs through the whole of Occidental art from
the times of Tanagra to the days of Giacometti and
Hermann Fran£ois.

By the end of the seventeenth century and the
beginning of the eighteenth, the range of the netsuke-

180

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

carver's motives had extended into the every-day life
of the people, into the realm of birds, flowers, insects,
shells, and all other natural objects, and into the sphere
of history. It is hopeless to attempt any classifica-
tion. Nor, indeed, would anything be gained by
such an effort. The netsuke derives its value, in the
first place, from the skill of the sculptor ; in the
second, from the nature of the motive. It would be
as impossible to lay down hard-and-fast rules for the
collector's guidance as to construct a useful formula
for judging the merits of a picture. Many people
attach great importance to the age of a netsuke, and,
possessing specimens which they believe to be old, are
complacently confident that nothing new can be good.
That is a pure delusion. A netsuke gains nothing from
age. It is true that ivory, like bronze, develops in
time a patina, a soft-brown glow, which is justly
prized. But the same colour can be produced by
" treatment," the same superficial texture by friction,
and, as a matter of fact, both are produced abundantly
in the workshop of the forger. On the other hand,
there are a score of artists in modern Japan who can
carve a netsuke not inferior in any respect to the best
types of former times. The skill has not been lost ;
it is merely exercised in other directions. Age, then,
is valuable solely as an assistance to identifying the
work of celebrated masters who flourished in past
centuries. Imitations were less frequent in former
eras than in the present, and if a netsuke bearing the
signature of Miwa, of Tomochika, of Issai, or some
other great expert, is unquestionably old, its age
becomes a partial justification for crediting the
genuineness of the signature. Only partial, how-
ever, for from the time — a hundred and fifty years

181

JAPAN

ago — when the names of netsuke-carvers were first
thought worthy of historical record, their works
began to be copied, even to the signatures, and
though a little care should guarantee the collector
against mistaking for old masterpieces the begrimed,
medicated, and comparatively rough forgeries of
modern times, a combination of age and the cachet
of a renowned master does not prove that the work
is not an imitation, and should never be deemed
sufficient evidence of excellence. Quality is every-
thing. There must be not only delicacy and finish,
together with strength of line and accuracy of detail,
but there must also be eloquent vitality, simple direct-
ness of treatment, grace of conception, and, in a
majority of cases, an element of humour. Certain
favourite designs have been produced again and again,
— a group of rats or rabbits ; SBbki, the demon-slayer ;
an imp hiding under SHbkfs discarded hat ; the fight
of the three blind shampooers ; a wild bear among
reeds ; Watanabe and the demon ; Daruma roused
from his pious reverie by a rat ; a monkey with its
paw caught by a giant clam ; an old man sneezing ;
a mountain elf (tengu] emerging from an egg-shell ;
the fight between Benkei and Yoshitsune ; Urajima
and the casket of longevity ; New-Year mummers
(manzai) ; groups of tortoises ; saru-gaku dancers ;
the Dog of Fo (shishi) and peonies ; a boy peeping
through the mouth of a shishi mask ; a cicada on a
dead twig ; a snail crawling on its shell ; a peasant
woman carrying a child ; wrestlers ; Otafuke, the
vulgar Venus, washing her neck at a tub ; Kagura
dancers ; monkeys and peaches ; a bee on a gourd ;
the Lady Tokiwa and her three children journeying
through the snow ; an owl on a decayed stump ; a

182

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

puppy dog and a dragon-fly ; the badger-bewitched
pot ; a rat gnawing a candle ; a cicada shell on a
walnut ; the Seven Wise Men in the bamboo grove ;
frogs in all kinds of positions ; a cock perched on a
tile or a drum — each and every one of these used to
exist by scores in Japan before dilettanti from Europe
and America came to carry them away. But among
a dozen specimens representing the same motive a
little accuracy of observation will soon enable the
connoisseur to recognise that one is incomparably
superior to the other eleven. There is no special
difficulty in carving rats, or rabbits, or cocks and
hens, or imps, but the difference between a group of
rats or rabbits by Rantei, for example, or Terutsugu,
and the same group chiselled by a modern copyist
who manufactures for the Western market, is that in
one case the animals are instinct with life and motion ;
in the other, they are tame and nerveless. The same
criticism applies throughout. Even a tortoise by
Tomokazu is a vital, crawling creature, just as the
discarded shell of a cicada by Rakuchika is seen to be
a mere shell before its hollowness has been observed.
No wise collector will trouble himself about names
and dates until he has first become convinced that a
netsuke has artistic claims to such attention.

For the satisfaction of collectors special mention
may be made of a variety of netsuke which has caused
some perplexity, though as an object of art it has no
merit whatever. The subject is an uncouth figure,
from three to six inches high and therefore of un-
usually large dimensions, wearing a strange costume
and obviously intended to represent a foreigner. The
material is generally of lacquered wood or bone, but in
rare instances ivory is used, and the size of the netsuke

183

JAPAN

has induced some persons to suppose that it did not
serve for supporting a girdle-pendant. But, as will
be seen just now when pipes and pouches are spoken
of, there are certain classes among the lower orders
of Japanese who affect everything on a large and ob-
trusive scale. These persons found a big ponderous
netsuke quite to their taste, and were moreover pleased
that it should have a rude, portentous aspect. The
carver, therefore, had recourse to the popular idea of
a foreigner, — a Dutchman for the most part, — and
endeavoured to impart to the figure a suggestion of
all the solecisms of dress and manners that the outer
barbarian was supposed to perpetrate. If the average
Japanese connoisseur be asked to identify these gro-
tesque figures, he replies off-hand that they are Nam-
ban-jin, or " southern barbarians," a term originally
applied to all aliens coming from regions southward
of Japan, but ultimately used with special reference
to the Spaniards, the Portuguese, and the Dutch. But
the fact is that the Japanese recognised several con-
ventional types of half-civilised outsiders, and often
borrowed the characteristics of three or four to form
a specially unlovely and confused compound. There
was the " Orangai " of the Amur region with his
sack-like garment of woolly hide, his feathered and
furred cap, and his Chinese face. There was the
" Ezo-jin," with his hirsute visage, monstrous features,
semi-Occidental costume, and savage aspect. There
was the " Dattan " of Tartary, a ferocious edition of
the " Orangai," with voluminous ears, repulsively ugly
features, fur-bristling robes, bow of vast strength and
arrows three feet long. There was the " Taiwan-
jin " of Formosa, with whiskers, moustache, and im-
perial ornamenting a vacuous face ; his costume a

184

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

skull cap, a necklace, and a loin cloth ; his weapon
a spear. There were the people of " Kochi" (Cochin
China) and Tonkin, with tonsured pates, long robes,
expansive pantaloons, bare feet, and a peculiar kind
of short, double-barbed spear clasped in their arms.
It would appear that a general idea of these various
"barbarian" characteristics floated in the mind of
the Japanese sculptor, and that he combined them
according to the dictates of his fancy when required
to carve netsuke for the portly pouch and ponderous
pipe of the professional stalwart.

A word must be said about the general form of
the netsuke. Speaking broadly, there are only two
kinds. There is first the netsuke whose shape is de-
termined by that of the object represented. This is
the most frequent and also the finest type. The net-
suke is then a statuette, and the modelling must be
perfect from every point of view. The second kind
may be called the " button netsuke " (known in Japan
as manju or riusa). It is either a solid circular disc
of ivory, wood, or bone, covered, more or less pro-
fusely, with designs sculptured in high or low relief;
or it is an unornamented disc of the same materials
framing a metal plate to which alone the decoration
is applied. The chiselling of these metal plates
(kagaml-buta] fell to the task not of the netsuke-
maker but of the goldsmith (kinzoku-sht), to whom
there will presently be occasion to refer. As to the
first kind of button-netsu&e, it varies greatly in size,
some being as much as three inches in diameter, and
others not more than one inch. The common size
is about an inch and a half. In the case of these
netsukes the artist had to decorate a surface only ; a
much easier achievement than the chiselling of the

JAPAN

statuette-nefsu&e. But with that reservation his work
merits high admiration, and is, further, more uni-
formly excellent than the work of the statuette sculp-
tor. Wonderful skill is shown in producing effects
of space and gradations of distance by varying the
degree of relief or incision, and the most delicate
elaboration of detail is found in combination with
purity of design and directness of method.

The netsuke and the ojime are not the only objects
of beauty connected with girdle-pendants. Quite as
much artistic skill was lavished upon the inro. This
gem of workmanship properly belongs, however, to
the category of lacquer manufactures, and will be
again referred to in that context. The glyptic artist
did not, as a rule, apply his talents to its decoration.
But there are many exceptions ; notably inro in ivory.
Sometimes the whole surface of an ivory inro is cov-
ered with a deeply chiselled design of flying cranes,
or a herd of monkeys, or a mob of horses. Some-
times it is made of strips of ivory woven after the
fashion of a bamboo basket ; sometimes of ebony or
shitan (red sandalwood),1 chiselled in landscapes,
diapers, arabesques, battle-scenes, or mythological
subjects ; sometimes the inro itself fits into a thin
metal shell, with decoration elaborately chased or
chiselled in relief and pierced throughout so as
to reduce the weight and show the inro within.2 It
would be an endless task to make detailed reference
to the innumerable happy conceptions of the Japanese
craftsman in this branch of his work. One of the
delights of collecting Japanese objects of virtu is that
surprises may always be expected. The repertoire of
novelties is never exhausted.

1 See Appendix, note 21. 2 See Appendix, note 22.

186

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

Much that has been said above about the inro and
the netsuke applies also to the pipe (kiseru), the pipe-
case (fa'seru-zufsu) , and the tobacco-pouch (tobacco-ire).
The pipe, from having originally been a ponderous
clumsy affair, sometimes carried over the shoulder
and serviceable as a weapon, gradually dwindled to
tiny proportions, and began to command the attention
of the decorative artist. It must be noted, however,
that the aristocratic pipe is never a highly ornate
affair. Its most approved form has always been a
central joint of polished reed, carrying a long mouth-
piece and a diminutive bowl, both of gold, silver, or
one of the compound metals which the Japanese
manufacture with such unique skill. The bowl and
mouthpiece occasionally have decoration, — engraved
or inlaid pictures, diapers or arabesques, translucid
enamelling in cloissons, or chaste designs in low
relief, — but in the great majority of cases the metal
sections, with the exception of the end of the mouth-
piece, have their surface uniformly hammered in one
of the "stone-grain" diapers by-and-byto be described.
There have passed into foreign collections a number
of massive and comparatively large pipes, — some-
times made entirely of silver, or of the greyish white
metal called shibuichi • sometimes having a central
joint of reed — on the decoration of which the chisel
of the sculptor has been employed to produce strik-
ingly ornate effects. Such pipes are never used by
gentlemen and ladies in Japan. They have always
been the exclusive property of the wrestler, who loves
to have everything colossal ; of the professional gam-
bler and the swashbuckling chevalier a" Industrie; of
the tory'd, who stands at the head of a guild of work-
men in virtue of his expert muscles and courageous

187

JAPAN

masterfulness ; and of that peculiar clan of stalwarts,
represented in feudal times by the otoko-datf, a genuine
redresser of wrongs and champion of the weak, but
in modern days by the greatly degenerate soshi, who
aims at being a political reformer, but seldom rises
above the level of a hireling bully. The pouches
that accompany these big pipes are of correspondingly
large dimensions, and have metal clasps which, as
specimens of fine glyptic work and clever designing,
deserve the special attention that collectors have
bestowed on them.1 The same remark applies to the
clasps of smaller pouches, carried by every-day folks.
But as the chiselling of these objects falls to the task
of the maker of sword-furniture, they will be further
noticed in the latter context.

The pouch itself was generally of leather, fur, skin,
or some rare textile fabric. There were nearly a hun-
dred recognised varieties of choice material, each hav-
ing its duly defined points, and each designated by a
special name. Attention may be directed here to a
feature which will be further illustrated by-and-by,
— the extraordinary wealth of nomenclature presented
by the Japanese vocabulary of decorative art. How
many kinds of leather, or cloth, or silken fabric,
suitable for the cover of a tobacco-pouch or a
pocket-book, could an American or European expert
indicate by means of a terminology that would be
immediately intelligible to the person addressed ? A
score and a half would probably exhaust the list.
Yet, in a well-known Japanese work compiled at the
close of the eighteenth century, no less than ninety-
three varieties are separately designated and described.
There is, of course, no occasion to enter into any

1 See Appendix, note 23.

188

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

detailed account of the nature and appearance of
these materials. What is interesting is to note, first,
the lesson taught by their great variety, — the immense
care bestowed by the Japanese upon an article com-
paratively so unimportant as the tobacco-pouch,1 —
and secondly, that they were the means of introducing
some distinctly foreign elements into Japanese deco-
rative art. For the great majority of these materials
were imported, from India, from Holland, from
Persia, from China, from Siam and other countries,
and the designs impressed, woven, or embroidered
upon them not only were emphatically alien, but
also in many instances represented bizarre conceptions,
crudely worked out, and falling far below the stan-
dards of decorative excellence to which the Japanese
had themselves attained. But there has always been
in Japan an affection for the quaint and the archaic.
It owes its origin to the cult of the tea-clubs, and its
effect upon the art of the country was in some respects
vitiating. Thus in the case of these imported leathers
and stuffs, when the materials themselves were not
actually employed, their designs were occasionally
taken by the glyptic artist as the most appropriate
motive for decorating the surface of the pouch or the
pipe-case, and the result is that these objects, when
made of wood, ivory, horn, or bamboo, sometimes
present a style of decoration without any Japanese
affinities and with very little to recommend it from
an artistic point of view. On the whole, however,
the use of hard substances — bamboo, ebony, shitan,
betel-nut, palm, ivory, or horn — for the manufacture
of pouches was exceptional. In the case of ivory, a
favourite though seldom practised method was to cut

1 See Appendix, note 24.

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JAPAN

the material in fine strips and weave them in basket
meshes, the technical difficulty constituting the chic
of the article. An ivory, ebony, or bamboo surface
carved so as to be indistinguishable from basket work
was also prized, and, for the rest, many quaint and
pretty methods of sculpture and decoration were
employed ; but, on the whole, the tobacco pouch it-
self, apart from its appendages, was the least ornate of
the girdle-pendants.

The pipe-case (kiseruzutsu) is another of Japan's
glyptic triumphs. M. Gonse justly says that there
are few objects on which Japanese artists have ex-
pended more consideration and taste. In form it is
very simple — a slightly flattened tube, the upper por-
tion of which slips into the lower in such a manner
as to be gripped more tightly the further it is in-
serted. The material is ebony, bamboo, sandalwood,
horn, ivory, lacquered wood, and sometimes metal.
Carved with exquisite care and taste in high relief,
elaborately engraved, inlaid with various substances,
or overlaid with applied ornaments, the pipe-case is
unquestionably a charming specimen of decorative
art. It must not be supposed, however, that richness
and profusion of ornamentation are regarded as evi-
dences of excellence in Japan. M. Gonse, in an out-
burst of enthusiasm, refers to a pipe-case in the Gon-
court collection as le roi des etuis b pipe passes, presents
et futures, and describes it thus : " It is a bamboo
tube, the rotundity slightly flattened, covered with
a flight of dragon-flies. One cannot imagine any-
thing more marvellously captivating, more sumptu-
ous than this decoration, half in relief, half incised,
enriched with enamel, with mother-of-pearl, and
with coloured ivory ; with gradations and effects of

190

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

background, obtained by the contrast between dragon-
flies simply sculptured and dragon-flies of enamel and
mother-of-pearl in the foreground." Such work is
doubtless very beautiful to Western eyes, but a classi-
cal Japanese connoisseur would turn from it with dis-
dain. Some thirty years ago, there lived a sculptor,
named Hashi-ichi, then in his old age. His spe-
cialty was to imitate bamboo : to reproduce in box-
wood, in ebony, or in shit an the joints, the texture,
the graining, and all the other characteristics of the
bamboo. If one of Hashi-ichi's unadorned pipe-
cases together with M. Gonse's " king of past, of
present, and of future pipe-cases," were offered to a
Japanese connoisseur, he would choose the former
unhesitatingly, for the profuse decoration which
appeals to Occidental eyes represents a comparatively
modern period of Japanese art, and is not always
in harmony with the best Japanese canons. Some
specimens there are, indeed, in which wealth of
design and purity of conception are happily com-
bined, and the decoration is nobly rich without
any hint of meretriciousness. But seldom, very sel-
dom indeed, did a Japanese craftsman of the first class
attempt to build up designs with such a melange of sub-
stances as mother-of-pearl, coloured ivory, and enamel.
In operations of that patchwork, dovetailing, finikin
kind there was no room for vigour and directness of
line or strength of chisel, nor could the decorator
look to satisfy the highest canon of his art, — large
effect with small effort. It will be readily under-
stood that the pipe-case, the netsuke, the tobacco-
pouch, and its appendages and ornaments were all
en suite, all formed part of the same decorative
scheme. They do not necessarily lose interest or

191

JAPAN

beauty by separation, though sometimes the story
their design tells does not bear to be divided into
fragments. There is nothing to be added in this
context to what* has already been said about the
range of the netsu&e-czrver's decorative motives. The
same craftsman undertook the chiselling of the netsuke
and the pipe-case, and derived his designs from the
same sources.

Mention may be conveniently made here of two
objects which, although they have no connection with
girdle-pendants, received their decoration from the
hands of the latter's craftsman. They are the kiyoji-
tate and the kbgo. The kiyoji-tate, though a very beauti-
ful little affair, may be dismissed with a few words.
It is a miniature vase, from three to four inches high,
generally hexagonal in section, used for holding the
delicate silver instruments of the incense-burning pas-
time. Made of silver, gold, silver-gilt, and sometimes
shakudo or shibuichi, its sides are almost invariably chis-
elled in reticulated diapers, scrolls, or arabesques, but
it owes its attraction rather to grace of form, highly
finished technique, and delicacy of decorative design
than to excellence of sculpture. The kbgo is a tiny
box for holding cakes of incense. Like the inroy it
belongs primarily to the domain of lacquer manufac-
ture. But there are many specimens in metal or
ivory with sculptured decoration, incised or in relief,
of such fine design and choice workmanship that they
deserve to be classed among the best cbefs-d'ceuvre of
glyptic art.

Who were the men that carved these beautiful
objects, so essentially Japanese, and what inspiration
led the glyptic artist in the seventeenth century to
make a departure analogous to that made by the

192

o1? .Hziyiiia Y.I vioMr/

^Ssq 9»2)

ELEVEN-FACED KWANNON IN SHRINE, FOURTEENTH CENTURY.

(S«e page 139.)

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

pictorial artist of the Toba-ye in the twelfth ? There
is no escape from the general conclusion that Japan-
ese art derived its motives and its methods from foreign
sources, but, on the other hand, both in sculpture and
in painting it shows developments which owe nothing
to alien suggestion, and must be placed to the sole
credit of Japanese genius. That distinction has
already been noted with regard to the Ukiyo-ye ( genre-
picture), and its truth in the realm of sculpture is
established partly by the works of Jocho and his
successors in the religious school, and completely by
the carving of netsuke and girdle-pendants in general.
The netsuke is a combination of the Toba-ye and the
Ukiyo-ye. It shows all the humour of the former
without the grotesque exaggerations of form, and it
has all the naturalistic graces and human interest of
the latter. There is nothing exactly corresponding
to it in the sculpture of any other country, and one
imagines that the first appearance of such an object
ought to be historically recorded. But the difficulty
that confronts the student in tracing any school of
Japanese pictorial art to its source, presents itself in
the case of the netsuke also : public attention was not
directed to the new departure until its success had
become conspicuous, and in the meanwhile the
pioneers had passed out of sight and memory. There
is a vague Japanese tradition that the first sculptor
who made a specialty of netsuke-curv'mg was one Ri-
fu-ho of Kyoto. He is said to have flourished from
1 625 to 1 670. " Ri-fu-ho " is not a family name or a
personal name. It is one of the professional appella-
tions which Japanese experts generally take. Nothing
is known of the man or of his work. He is referred
to also as " Hinaya," and some English writers have

VOL. VII. 13 I no

JAPAN

assumed that the latter was an alternative name. But
" hina-ye " signifies " a maker of hina ; " that is to
say, of the puppets set up at the Girls' Fete on the
fifth day of the fifth month. These little figures did
not call for much exercise of glyptic skill. Their
costumes and all the accessories of the various char-
acters they represented were of the most accurate and
elaborate nature. Processions of feudal chiefs with
every miniature squire and man-at-arms caparisoned
exactly as he would be in life, and with all the para-
phernalia of travel reproduced microscopically ; wed-
ding ceremonials, from the feast with its refined
conventionalism when the loving-cup was exchanged,
to the bride's first return to the abode of her parents ;
scenes from the history of filial piety or from the
pages of mythology, folk-lore, or fable ; in short, an
endless repertoire of subjects offered itself for the
choice of the maker of hinay and since these little
figures with their accompaniments are exact repro-
ductions of Japanese costume, customs, weapons,
armour, household utensils, and what not, they are
greatly and deservedly prized by foreign collectors.
But they cannot be called works of art : they are
simply the most elaborate and naturalistic dolls ever
made in any country. Generally the figures were of
wood, but in the choicest specimens ivory was used
for the faces, hands, and feet. Sums corresponding
to many hundreds of sovereigns were occasionally
expended upon these hina by great and wealthy
families, in order that some pet daughter might
celebrate her fete with sufficiently triumphal delight ;
for it must be observed that the little ladies, wearing
gala frocks, visited each other's displays of hina during
many days, and that the " grown-ups " of the district

194

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

took scarcely less pride and pleasure in this feature of
the fete. Nothing was more natural than that a
maker of hina should turn to the more artistic but
somewhat cognate pursuit of netsuke-czrvrng. For
the rest, however, nothing can be predicated about the
traditional Ri-fu-yo. No specimens of his work are
known to have survived, and if he took the elaborate
hina as a model, his immediate successors did not
follow his example. According to an appendix to
the Soken Kisho (Treatise on Sword-Furniture), com-
piled by Michitaku and published in June, 1781, the
first carver of netsuke was the well-known painter
Tosa Mitsuoki, who died in the year 1691. He had
the rank of Hogen, and his art name was Shuzan.
The Sbken Kisho says of him : —

Hogen Shuzan lived at Shima-no-uchi in Osaka. All the
netsuke carved by this artist are coloured. Many imitations
have been made, but none has the qualities possessed by
works from the artistic hands of the skilled painter.

Note by Kinshi Hozan, son of Shuzan : " My father, who
is artistically known as Hogen Shuzan, was called Mitsuoki,
or Tansenso, and enjoyed a high reputation as a painter.
He was very fond of carving, and loved to reproduce, with
due alterations of enlargement or reduction, the quaintest
and most unusual figures shown in the Sankaikyo (shapes
from the mountain and the ocean) or the Ressaiden ( annals
of Rishi). In fact, any figure that he fancied took shape
under his chisel. His scheme of colouring was so excellent
that ordinary folks can have no conception of it. But as
he ceased to carve after reaching middle life, his works are
very scarce and of correspondingly high value. Ina Michi-
taku, a friend of mine, who has been recently engaged com-
piling the Sbbken Kisbo, with an appendix on netsuke, has
asked my permission to publish some of my father's
carvings, together with those of some other artists. I desire
to comply with his wishes, but unfortunately these old and

19S

JAPAN

rare carvings are not to be obtained easily, being preciously
treasured up by their possessors. Hence there is nothing
at hand really suitable for publication. I have thought,
however, that since my father carved only as a pastime in
the intervals of his work as a painter, his reputation will
suffer no injury by letting the public see even such mediocre
specimens of his glyptic work as happen to be available.
Hence I have sketched a few and sent them to my
friend."

It will be observed that already in the year i 78 1
the netsuke carved by Shuzan were very scarce, that
all his works were coloured (from which it may
be inferred that the only material employed by him
was wood), and that imitations were numerous
even during the lifetime of the immediately suc-
ceeding generations. Indeed, the fact that a netsuke
carries the name of one of the early celebrities
ought generally to inspire distrust, and to suggest
possibly the work of an inferior craftsman without
either reputation or skill to justify the use of his
own name.

It is frequently alleged that no good netsuke have
been made in modern times : a conception derived,
doubtless, from the fact that after the opening of the
country to foreign intercourse in 1857, the netsuke
ceasing, on the one hand, to be valued by the Japanese
themselves, and becoming, on the other, an object of
curiosity and admiration to foreigners, hundreds of
inferior specimens were chiselled by inexpert hands,
purchased wholesale by treaty-port merchants, and
sent to New York, London, and Paris, where, though
they brought profit to the exporter, they also dis-
gusted connoisseurs and soon earned discredit for their
whole class. But it was a mistake to conclude from

196

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

these parodies that the sculptor had lost his old
ability. He still retained it, though its exercise was
circumscribed, and in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto
netsukes of high quality continued to be produced.
During recent years the artists have turned their
attention to a somewhat different class of object,
the okimono, or statuette, but it is not to be supposed
that they are a whit inferior to the old-time experts
in conception and execution. The collector may
be satisfied that a netsuke bearing the signature of
a comparatively modern artist is not necessarily in-
ferior to a genuine specimen by Seibei, Tomtoda,
Miwa, or Issai.

The passing reference already made to Nara ningyo
(puppets of Nara) requires to be briefly supplemented.
Visitors to the celebrated temples of Nara find for
sale there some roughly chiselled wooden figures, two
or three inches high, generally representing the old
couple of Takasago and a few other familiar motives.
The figures are painted in two or three colours.
They can scarcely be called art objects, but belong
rather to the category of toys. Yet they are con-
nected with a once flourishing industry which occu-
pies a prominent place in the history of Japanese
wood-carving. In 1588, when the TaiKb had the
honour of receiving a visit from the Emperor in the
newly constructed " Palace of Pleasure " at Fushimi,
he ordered the sculptors of Nara to exert their ut-
most skill in producing a congratulatory carving
which should stand in the alcove of the reception
chamber. The form of such an object was limited
by tradition to the shimadai, or " island-stand," a mo-
tive derived from the Japanese cosmogony in which
the creator and the creatrix, Izanami and Izanagi, are

197

JAPAN

supposed to have begotten the island of Onokoro,
when the male and female principles first came into
active existence. The divine feat is represented in art
by a gracefully shaped stand, more or less elaborately
decorated, on which are placed two figures of an aged
man and woman, as well as a group of plum, bamboo,
and pine trees, with accessories in the shape of cranes
and tortoises. The figures are the spirits of the ancient
pine-trees of Takasago and Sumiyoshi, and the whole
combination is emblematic of longevity, prosperity,
happiness, and undying affection. The Taiko's com-
mission to prepare this alcove ornament was given to
Yemon Tazayemon, a sculptor of Nara, and the
shima-dai there produced — Nara-dai, as it is often
called — is popularly said to have been the origin of
the afterwards celebrated Nara-ningyo. But here,
again, the student detects a tendency common in
Japanese art-annals, the tendency to mistake the first
public recognition of an industry for its origin. The
plum, the pine, the bamboo, the tortoise, the crane,
and the spirits of the ancient trees, of Sumiyoshi and
Takasago, had symbolised long life, prosperity, and
enduring conjugal love for centuries prior to the
building of the ill-fated Momoyamagoten at Fushimi,
and innumerable shima-hai1 had been prepared for
wedding ceremonies before Hideyoshi gave a com-
mission to the Nara sculptors. Indeed, close exami-
nation of the records shows that Nara-ningyo were
manufactured as early as the year 1 135, on the occa-
sion of the first great Kasuga festival, when the image
of the god Waka-miya was moved to a new shrine ;
and tradition says that in their origin — which was
not later than the middle of the tenth century —

1 See Appendix, note 25.

198

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

these little figures partook of the nature of amulets,
having been carved out of the old timbers of the
sacred bridge leading to the temples, when the bridge
was renewed for the first time. It was an article of
popular faith that all these little figures were made
from bridge-wood which had been hallowed during
long years by the tread of priests and the passage of
festival processions, but since the bridge did not re-
quire renewing more than once in fifty years, whereas
every pilgrim visiting Nara carried away one of the
images, faith must have been substituted for fact in
an immense number of cases. Let the timber be
what it might, however, the sculptor had to observe
one rule unfailingly : he was required to fashion the
object with a minimum use of the chisel. Perfect
success in that respect was supposed to be attained
when the tool was never applied a second time to the
same place.1 Thus the Nara-ningyo stood to sculp-
ture in the same relation as that of the Indian-ink
sketch to painting. These figures do not appear to
have attracted much attention in aesthetic circles until
the Taikos example, as described above, being followed
by the nobility as well as by wealthy commoners, gave
a great impulse to the art of the himono-shi? From
that time the chiselling of 'Nara-ningyo became a flour-
ishing industry, the range of motives being gradually
extended and the colouring executed with care and
taste. Some of these figures were richly lacquered,
and when thus decorated they received the name of
Negoro-ningyo. In the early part of the nineteenth
century, an expert sculptor named Okano Hohaku
gave a wider range to his art by chiselling characters
from the classic mimes, — the bugaku, the gigaku,

1 See Appendix, note 26. 2 See Appendix, note 27.

I99

JAPAN

and the nogaku, — and in 1830 Kambayashi Rakki-
ken, a cha-no-yu celebrity, who resided in Uji, at-
tracted attention by chiselling representations of
girls engaged in the processes of tea-manufacture.
These Uji-ningyo, as they are called, often stand on
a very high plane of artistic feeling and technical
skill.

The latest development of figure-sculpture in Japan
prior to the Meiji era was the Asakusa-ningyo, so called
from the name of the place (Asakusa in Yedo) where
the sculptor, Fukushima Kagan, lived, and where his
works were usually exhibited. The Asakusa-ningyo
was generally a life-size figure, representing some his-
torical or mythical character. Draped in appropriate
garments, these ningyo were grouped so as to form
traditional scenes, and admission to the gallery where
they stood could be obtained on payment of a small
fee. This was the Madame Toussaud's of Japan.
Generally the ningyo were modelled in clay,1 but
whatever the material, they were little better than
large puppets, raised above doll level by the clever
modelling of their faces and hands. Such a branch of
technical sculpture would scarcely deserve notice save
for its association with Matsumoto Kisaburo (1830-
1869), who is frequently spoken of by Western connois-
seurs as the greatest wood-carver of modern Japan.
Certainly he was the most realistic, for he carved human
figures with as much accuracy as though they were des-
tined for purposes of surgical demonstration. Consider-
ing that this man had neither education nor anatomical
instruction, and that he never enjoyed an opportunity
of studying from a model in a studio, his achieve-
ments were remarkable. He and the craftsmen of

1 See Appendix, note 28.

2OO

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

the school he established, completely refute the
theory that the anatomical defects commonly seen in
the work of Japanese sculptors are due to faulty ob-
servation. Without scientific training of any kind,
Matsumoto and his followers produced works in which
the eye of science cannot detect any error. But it is
impossible to admit within the circle of high-art pro-
ductions these wooden figures of every-day men and
women, unrelieved by any subjective element and
owing their merit entirely to the fidelity with which
their contours are shaped, their muscles modelled, and
their anatomical proportions preserved. They have
not even the attraction of being cleanly sculptured in
wood, but are covered with thinly lacquered muslin,
which, though doubtless a good preservative, accen-
tuates their puppet-like character. Nevertheless Mat-
sumoto's figures marked an epoch in Japanese wood
sculpture. Their vivid realism appealed strongly to
the taste of the average foreigner ; a considerable
school of carvers soon began to work in the Matsu-
moto style, and hundreds of their productions have
gone to Europe and America, finding no market in
Japan. The greatest of these modern experts is
Yamamoto Fukumatsu. He reaches the level of
Matsumoto Kisaburo.

Midway between the Matsumoto realistic school
and the pure Japanese style of former times, stand a
number of wood-carvers headed by Takamura Koun,
who occupies in the field of sculpture much the same
place as that held by Hashimoto Gaho in the realm
of painting. Koun carves figures in the round, which
not only display great power of chisel and breadth
of style, but also tell a story not necessarily drawn
from the motives of the classical school. This de-

2OI

JAPAN

parture from established canons must be traced to
the influence of the short-lived academy of Italian
art established by the Japanese Government in 1 874.
In the forefront of the new movement are to be
found men like Yoneharu Unkai and Shinkai Take-
jiro, the former of whom chiselled a figure of Jenner
for the Medical Association of Japan when they
celebrated the centenary of the great physician, and
the latter has carved life-size likeness effigies of
Princes Arisugawa and Kitashirakawa who lost their
lives in the war of 1894-1895. The artists of the
Koun school, however, do much work which appeals to
emotions in general rather than to individual memo-
ries. Thus Arakawa Reiun, one of Koun's most
brilliant pupils, recently exhibited a figure of a swords-
man in the act of driving home a furious thrust. The
weapon is not shown. Reiun sculptured simply a man
poised on the toes of one foot, the other foot raised,
the arm extended, and the body straining forward in
strong yet elastic muscular effort. This carving em-
phasises the advantage of not working from a model.
A posed figure could not possibly suggest the alert
vitality and high muscular tension of the swordsman.
A more imaginative work by the same artist is a
figure of a farmer who has just shot an eagle that
swooped upon his grandson. The old man holds his
bow still raised. Some of the eagle's feathers, blown
to his side, suggest the death of the bird ; at his feet
lies the corpse of the little boy, and the horror, grief,
and anger that such a tragedy would inspire are de-
picted with striking realism in the farmer's face.
Work of that nature has close affinities with Occi-
dental conceptions. Its chief distinguishing feature
is that the glyptic character is preserved at the ex-

202

VARIOUS APPLICATIONS OF ART

pense of surface-finish. The undisguised touches of
the chisel tell a story of technical force and direct-
ness which could not be suggested by perfectly
smooth surfaces. To subordinate process to result
is the European canon. To show the former with-
out marring the latter is the Japanese ideal. Many
of Koun's sculptures appear unfinished to eyes trained
in Occidental galleries, whereas the Japanese con-
noisseur detects evidence of a technical feat in their
seeming roughness.

Architectural decoration in Europe and America
ought to provide much employment for the Japanese
wood-carver. In his own country temples, shrines,
and mausolea used to offer a wide field for his chisel ;
but since feudalism fell and since the State turned its
back upon religion, the greatly reduced revenues of
sacred edifices barely suffice for their support and
leave no margin for their embellishment. There has
not, however, been any diminution of the old glyptic
skill and originality. On the contrary, at least as
much talent as ever is now available. Formerly a
large part of the decorative sculpture for temples and
mausolea was done in sections, which were after-
wards pieced together with nails and glue. Ex-
amples of that method may be seen in some of the
most effective carvings of the Nikko mausolea. The
head and neck of a phoenix, for instance, are sculp-
tured in three or four segments, and the tail-feathers
in five or six. Elaborate chiselling in relief on a
solid ground was seldom attempted in wood, admi-
rable as was the work of that kind achieved in metal.
But at glyptic exhibitions in Tokyo during recent
years beautiful specimens of solid carvings in relief
have been shown. Such work, if judiciously applied

203

JAPAN

to the interiors of foreign buildings, must be highly
attractive, and the cost would be comparatively small,
for a very slender remuneration still satisfies the Japan-
ese art artisan. Intelligent enterprise should find an
opportunity here.

204

Chapter VI

SCULPTURE ON SWORD-FURNITURE

OF the three fields in which Japanese art may
justly claim to have shown original genius,
namely, the art of genre painting with its
correlated achievements in chromo-xylog-
raphy, the field of netsuke carving, and the field of
sculpture as employed for the decoration of weapons
of war, it is probably correct to say that the most
remarkable work is found in the last.

There is a common belief that the decoration of
arms and armour did not reach a high grade of excel-
lence until the twelfth century of the Christian era.
Japanese traditions, on the contrary, allege that the
inlaying of armour with gold and silver began in
the fourth century, but there is nothing to support
the assertion. The armour found in dolmens shows
no trace of inlaying, or of any elaborate ornamen-
tation, and it may be said that the contents of these
peculiar tombs, which represent the burial-places of
Japanese chieftains and sovereigns down to, probably,
the fifth century of the Christian era, did not give
much promise of the extraordinary skill afterwards
attained. Nevertheless it is certain that the sculptor
must have occupied himself diligently with the
decoration of armour long before the Gem-pei wars
of the twelfth century, for a suit of mail worn by
Yoshitsune, the hero of that time, which is preserved

205

JAPAN

in a temple at Nara, exhibits features of considerable
decorative beauty. It is a combination of plate and
chain defence, and the chiselling of the helmet,
breastplate, and brassarts indicates that Japan possessed,
at that comparatively early era, workers in metal not
unworthy to rank with the sculptor of the Siris
Bronzes. Indeed Yoshitsune's armour forcibly recalls
that celebrated relic of the school of Praxiteles, for
just as the Grecian artist adorned the shoulder-pieces
of the armour with repousse pictures of a combat
between an Amazon and a warrior, so on Yoshitsune's
shoulder-pieces the Japanese craftsman affixed repousse
representations of the Dog of Fo, and on the helmet,
flying pheasants. These adjuncts, however, are a
minor feature in the case of the Japanese suit of mail.
The chief characteristic is a wealth of designs —
peony sprays, the well-known combination of plum,
bamboo, and pine, chrysanthemum scrolls, and birds —
in high relief, a jour, and in low relief. The crafts-
man who could execute such work had not much
room for improvement, and indeed it is not surpris-
ing to know that a family which through many
generations gave Japan her greatest artists in iron —
the Miyochin family — was founded by an armourer,
and had a celebrated representative in the second half
of the twelfth century.

While, however, this fine work was lavished on
the decoration of armour certainly from the twelfth
century and probably from an earlier date, the adorn-
ment of the sword did not receive commensurate
attention until the fifteenth century, — a curious fact
from the point of view of mere incongruity, but
doubly curious when it is remembered that whereas
armour was worn only on special occasions, the sword

206

S W O R D-FU R N I T U R E

had a perpetual place in the girdle, and possessed,
moreover, a value which seems romantic until some-
thing is learned of its really wonderful capacities.
The sword itself, not being an object of art, will not
be discussed here, great as is the interest otherwise
attaching to it. What has to be spoken of is sword-
furniture. There it was that the Japanese worker in
metals won his crown of skill. In the decoration
that he lavished on the guard, the hilt, and other
parts of the sword's mountings, he gave to the world
peerless specimens of sculpture in metal and of metal-
lurgic processes. There is nothing in the cognate
work of any other nation that surpasses, perhaps noth-
ing that equals, the masterpieces of Japan in this
line. The scarabs of Etruria have been mentioned as
in some degree parallel, just as the Tanagra statuettes
have been classed with the netsuke. If it be permissi-
ble to place on the same artistic plane a terra-cotta
figure cast in a mould and a carving in wood or ivory,
then also it may not be extravagant to compare the
pictures sculptured and painted — no other term can
be justly used — on metal by decorators of Japanese
swords to the intaglios of Etruscan gem-cutters.
These are matters of taste not profitable to discuss,
nor will any one who has had an opportunity of exam-
ining a really representative collection of Japanese
sword-furniture experience the least difficulty in form-
ing a final opinion. He will recognise that he is
dealing with pictorial art applied to metal, and the
longer he studies the subject the greater the charms
it develops and the more numerous the surprises it
affords. This eulogy is not intended to imply that
there are to be found among articles of Japanese
sword-furniture monumental specimens of decorative

207

JAPAN

metal-work worthy to be classed with objects such as
the silver altar of the Florence baptistery, the candela-
brum of the Milan Cathedral, the mediaeval rejas of
Spanish churches, and many of the other magnificent
achievements of European artists in metal. The two
classes of work are not comparable. One might as
well place in the same category the dancing maidens
of the walls of Herculaneum and the most delicate
miniature paintings on ivory. It has, indeed, been
asserted that the extraordinary labour of mind and
hand lavished by the Japanese artist upon objects the
biggest of which can be enclosed within a circle three
inches in diameter, justifies the criticism that he
belonged to a nation great in little things and little
in great things. But if the Japanese sculptor of
sword-furniture is to be accused of moral smallness
because he applied himself to the production of tiny
ornaments, the same charge may be preferred against
Benvenuto Cellini, since so much of his fame rests on
his enamelled jewelry. Whatever quality of mind
the fact indicates, it is indisputable that the Japanese
artist or art-artisan is the most conscientious in the
world. He loves to expend the finest and most
patient effort upon the least conspicuous portions of
the object he ornaments, partly because loyalty to his
art dictates such a sacrifice of labour, and partly
because he thus enters a kind of noble protest against
any suspicion of decorative ostentation which the
beauty and richness of his work might otherwise
suggest. That habit of craftsmanship is well illus-
trated in sword-furniture. The delicacy of chiselling
and infinitely careful finish betowed on every detail
delight the connoisseur as much as they astonish him.
Admirable as is the nefsu fa-carver's work, the art of

208

93*1 •&)

.nsiblirfO bne isloH ,}oa(du2

• OT!
.; i

.yiov!

;
:

Ivory.
By Meikeisai HoJItsD.

NETSUKE.
(See page 1 77.)

Ivory.
By Hakuunsai.

Ivory.

Not marked.

Ivory and Shibnichi.
By Shuraku.

Ivory.

By Sukenaga.
Subject, Daruma Sneezing.

10 ;
Wood.

By Sukenaga.
Subject, Frog and Nut.

•5

Ivory.

By Hojitsu.

Subject, Hotel and Children.

Ivory.

By Tomokazu.

Subject, Demon catching Shoki
under a basket.

Ivory.
By Masanao.

Ivory.
By Suksnaea.

Ivory and Wood.
By Kaigyaku and Mitsuhira.

Subject, Bell encrusted
with shells.

Ivory.
By Okatomo.

Ivory.
By Hojitsu.

Ivory.
By Hakuunsai.

Ivory.
By Hojitsu.

Ivory and Metal.
Not marked.

Ivory.
By Chlkuyosai.

Ivory.
By Hokyokumin

Ivory.
By Rantei.

Ivory.
By Kaigyokusai.

Ivory.
By Masatsugu.

Ivory.
Not marked.

Ivory.

By Minkaku.
Subject, Fulline Cloth.

24
Ivory.

By Masateru.

.. 25

Irory.
By Tamahide.

All the above are taken from the collection of B. Clarke Thornhill.

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

the sword-ornamenter has greater range and freedom.
That, indeed, is a necessary result of the well-recog-
nised law that the more direct and complete the
imitation effected by any art, the less the range and
the number of the phenomena it can imitate. The
netsuke being, for the most part, a sculpture in the
round, the actions, expressions, and accessories repre-
sented by it must be limited by the principles of sta-
bility and simplicity that govern the " space-arts ; "
whereas, in the decoration of sword-furniture, the
artist may introduce a much wider range of objects
and a much greater complexity of actions. The
student of these beautiful creations finds that Japanese
sculptors have exercised to the full their proper lati-
tude of motives and methods. The carver of sword-
furniture did, in fact, make " pictures " in metal ; that
is to say, pictures within the limitations found appli-
cable to all Japanese pictorial art, wherein such sub-
tleties of appearance as are due to the incidence of
light and shade find scarcely any place.

The Japanese samurai carried two swords in his
girdle. They are spoken of collectively as dai-skb
(long and small), and separately as katana (the long
sword) and wakizasbi (the companion sword, that is
to say, the short sword). There were four other kinds
of sword ; namely, ( i ) the tachi (called also jintachi,
or " war " tachi), a long curved blade carried by
samurai of high rank; (2) the tsurugi, a straight,
double-edged sword used in ancient times (the katana,
the wakizasbi, and the tachi were all one-edged) ; (3)
the aikucbi, a dagger (without guard), used originally
for stabbing or decapitating a prostrate foe, and sub-
sequently worn by the samurai when the dai-sbo
were removed (as on entering a friend's house) ; and

VOL. VII. 14 2O9

JAPAN

(4) the kaiken (lit. bosom sword), a dagger (without
guard) worn by women.

The furniture of the sword, — that is to say, of the
katana and the wakizasbi, — commencing from the
top of the hilt, consists of —

The kashira (tip) — a metal cap placed upon the top of the
hilt (kashira literally means " head," and in this case is an
abbreviation of tsuka-gashira, or the " head of the hilt ").

The menuki (rivet) — a piece of metal placed under the
frapping of the hilt to improve the grasp. The origin of the
menuki will be explained presently. A menuki being placed
on either side of the hilt, these ornaments always occur in
pairs and have decoration en suite.

Thefucbi — a metal ring encircling the hilt immediately
above the guard. The ornamentation of the fuchi and that
of the kasbira is always en suite.

The tsuba — the guard.

The seppa — a small plate through which the haft of the
sword passes before entering the guard.

The habaki — two flanges (forming a single piece), which
grasp the sides of the blade immediately below the seppa.
The seppa and the habaki never carry decorative designs of
any kind, but are mentioned here for the sake of com-
pleteness.

The kozuka — a knife inserted in the scabbard of the
"companion sword" (wakizasbi). The tip of the knife's
hilt lies opposite an opening in the guard through which it
is drawn when required for use. It is generally supposed
that the term kozuka applies to the hilt only of the knife or
dagger, the whole being called the kogatana (little sword).
But by kozuka the Japanese understand the knife attached to
the scabbard of a sword, and by kogatana any knife, such as
that used by a wood-carver, for example.

The kbgai — a skewer inserted in the scabbard of the
" companion sword " (wakizashi), on the side opposite to
the kozuka. The kogai, like the kozuka, is drawn through
an opening in the guard. It thus results that the guard of
the " companion sword " has always two oval holes, whereas

210

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

the guard of the katana is either without these holes, or has
them filled with removable plates. The kogai served the
samurai as a kind of hair-pin for fastening on his official cap
(kammurt). In time of war it was put to a different use,
being thrust into the head of a slain adversary for purposes
of subsequent identification so that the victor might claim
the honour due to his prowess. The kogai sometimes takes
the form of a pair of skewers.

The Kurigata — an oval knob fastened on one side of the
scabbard, and having a hole through which the pendent cord
(sage-o) is passed. The sage-o, which is always a strong
braid of silk, is twisted round the scabbard like a sword-knot,
but its chief use is to tie back the long sleeves of the surcoat
during a fight. In the case of the curved sword (tachi), how-
ever, the sage-o served to fasten the scabbard to the girdle.

The soritsuno — a piece of metal fixed on the scabbard of
the " companion sword " below the kurigata to prevent the
scabbard from slipping (sort) in the girdle.

The kojiri — a metal cap sometimes placed on the end of
the scabbard.

The furniture of the curved sword (tacht) has a dif-
ferent nomenclature from the above. Its various parts
are as follows : —

Kabuto-gane (lit. helmet-metal) — the cap on the hilt, cor-
responding to the kashira of the ordinary sword.

Musubi-gane (lit. knot-metal) — a ring attached to the cap
for the purpose of receiving a small knot.

Tsuka-ai (lit. hilt-companions) — corresponding to the
menuki of the ordinary sword.

Icbi-no-asbi and ni-no-ashi (lit. the first foot and second
foot) — two bands with rings encircling the scabbard to
receive the sword-knot (sage-o).

Sbiba-biki — the lowest ring on the scabbard.

Isbi-zuki — the " boot" of the scabbard.

In order to reach the standpoint from which the
Japanese view these decorative objects, to learn how
they were regarded by connoisseurs in the country of

211

JAPAN

their manufacture, and to discover what aims the best
artists proposed to themselves in chiselling them, it is
desirable to translate the words of the author of the
Soken Kisho, a critical writer whose treatment of the
subject is full and appreciative : —

GENERAL REMARKS.

As a general rule it is not so difficult to judge the quality
of the carving on a menuki, a kozuka, and so forth as to pro-
nounce an accurate verdict on the quality of the sword-blade.

One must commence by studying the chisel-marks on the
works of the thirteen successive generations of the Goto
family — the iye-bori, as they are called — until one has ac-
quired a thoroughly clear perception of the characteristics of
each master's style. This must be done with such diligence
that in the end the distinguishing features of each artist's
work can be recognised at a glance. Thus equipped, the
amateur will, of course, be in a position to discriminate be-
tween the iye-bori work and that of all other sculptors. It
is not enough, however, to be able to identify the manner-
isms of the chisels. The informing spirit of the work and
its art quality must also be earnestly studied. This is the
shortest and only route to become a competent connoisseur.
For the sculpture of a genius, whether he belongs to the
iye-bori or not, is invariably permeated by a lofty spirit,
whereas that of the artisan, whatever be its technical beauty,
lacks elevation of tone and is consequently quite inferior.
When once the connoisseur's mind is furnished with an in-
telligent standard of refined loftiness, there will not be the
least hesitation in detecting any low or vulgar features pre-
sented by a work.

The kozuka and kogai1 of the first Goto masters (iye-bori},
as well as of the experts of early eras, invariably have the

1 It will be observed that the kozuka and kogai are the only parts of the
sword-furniture referred to. These, in fact, were the parts on which the
great sculptors originally expended their skill. The guard (tsuba}, to which
the place of honour is given by foreign connoisseurs in general, did not hold
the same artistic rank as the kozuka and kogai until a later epoch.

212

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

ground covered with fish-roe1 (nanako} diaper — that is to
say, very small granulations like the roe of a fish. It was
formerly a point of etiquette not to wear, on occasions of
ceremony, swords of which the kozuka and kogai were without
the fish-roe ground. Those having the isbime (stone-grain)
ground or the ji-migakii (polished ground) were not con-
sidered suitable for such occasions. But among the works
of the later iye-bori there are many that have not the nanako
ground. It is to be observed that the fucbi and the kashira
are not included in the rule.

NOTE. — The fucbi and the kashira do not properly belong
to the class of sword " ornaments," being, in fact, essential
parts of the mounting. They form with the seppa and the
habaki inseparable elements of the mounted sword. The term
nanako is derived from the resemblance that the microscopic
granulations bear to fish-roe. In the language of old Japan,
" fish " was called na, and this with the suffix ko (egg) made
the compound na-no-ko, or nanako.

None of the early representatives of the Goto family (iye-
bor'i] made a business of carving anything but kozuka, me-
nuki, and kogai. Only from the time (1570-1631) of Tokujo,
the fifth representative, did they occasionally sculpture fuchi,
kasbira, and tsuba. Specimens of their work in these latter
lines are very rare, and should be correspondingly prized.
In recent times it is occasionally found that a gold crest
(coat of arms) originally chiselled on a kozuka or kogai of
old make has been detached and fixed on the fuchi and
kashira, or on thefuchi alone, or on the tsuba ; and in other
cases gold-plated crests or incised designs have been newly
attached to, or cut on, the original ground. Such objects
are very rare, nor would devices of the kind have been
employed by the masters except in compliance with orders
that could not be disobeyed.

1 There can be little doubt that the Japanese took this idea of "fish-
roe" granulations from Chinese porcelain. One of the most admired tours
de force of the Chinese keramist was a glaze completely covered with tiny
granulations which he compared to millet seed. Crackle of the finest and
most regular character was known in the Middle Kingdom as "fish-roe"
crackle, and these much esteemed grounds must have inspired the nanako of
Japan.

2IJ

JAPAN

It is a saying of the philosopher Amamori Hoshiu that
" in art there are four grades, the inferior (kefa), the skilled
(kosha\ the expert (jozu), and the master (meijiri)" and that
" the same classification applies to the conduct of the gentle-
man." In such wise, also, may be distinguished the merits
of carvers. Adopting that principle in compiling this work,
I have divided the carvers of sword-furniture into three
ranks. Natural talent combined with the skill acquired by
long practice constitutes the " master," who stands at the
highest point of his art. Next comes the " expert," con-
cerning whom, however, a triple subdivision must be made :
namely, the expert who ranks next to and immediately after
the master ; then the expert who, though originally of " in-
ferior" ability, has nevertheless by zealous and patient effort
developed the skill which ought to be the aim of every stu-
dent ; finally, the expert who by conceiving and executing
some attractive novelty, obtains the passing plaudits of a curi-
ous public, but whose works ultimately lose their charm and
stand revealed as unworthy of lasting admiration. All artists
that do not rise to the rank of " master " or " expert " may
be classed as "common." There are certainly gradations
among these last, but the sum of the matter is that they be-
long to the " inferior " order and are persons of vulgar
endowments. In every art the idea is first conceived, and
the hand thereafter moves in obedience to the mind. The
loftier the mind, the nobler the execution. An artist who
produces inferior work should be ashamed rather than proud.
The connoisseur of art objects must apply the same principle
in forming his judgments. Nobility of mind, absolute im-
partiality, and entire disinterestedness are the three essentials
of a sound critic.

The old-time carvers set out by learning from their mas-
ters how to handle the chisel, and when they had acquired
skill in the technical processes, they made their own designs
and sought to develop a special style. Thus, even those
that did not rise to the level of " experts " often produced
works showing skill, force, and graces of composition. So
degenerate, on the contrary, are modern carvers that if they
find an old work of fine quality, they carefully copy it by
taking an impression. But their unskilled use of the chisel

214

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

easily betrays them, for their execution is invariably prolix
and awkward. None the less when, after long toil and
much pain, they have succeeded in carving, polishing, and
colouring, they fondly imagine themselves great artists,
and with consummate silliness inscribe their names on these
productions, pointing the finger of scorn at other sculptors.
It is with the carver as with the painter. The good pictorial
artist, after acquiring a thorough knowledge of the uses of
the brush as taught by his master, copies many fine old
pictures and studies them earnestly, so that, when he comes
to paint independently, he has always before his mind's eye
a model showing the inimitably exquisite points of the great
chefs-d'oeuvre of the past. But he never prostitutes his
natural talent so far as to make slavish imitations. Thus
every touch of his brush is eloquent of original talent, and
the true critic cannot fail to detect the merits of his work.
Very different is the practice of the " inferior " painter.
His solicitude is almost entirely about the motive of his
picture, scarcely at all about the brush-work. He is not
versed even in the rudimentary art of using the " charred
stick " (yaki-fude] to change the scale of a drawing, or to
alter the shape of the figures. He prefers to make tracings
of old pictures and to reproduce them with elaborate accu-
racy. There are not a few of these imitators, and the
connoisseur, whether of painting or of sculpture, must needs
be on his guard lest he deceive others as well as himself.

One naturally supposes that men like Joi, Somin, Toshi-
hisa, Yasuchika, and other masters, who, by giving birth to
a glyptic style of their own, achieved world-wide fame, and
whose doors were thronged by eager applicants for their
productions, must have amassed much wealth. But it is
impossible for a man to be great in art and mercenary at the
same time. The common craftsman, as he bends over his
task, is for ever estimating the wage it will bring. Thus the
taint of covetousness is inevitably transferred to his work,
constituting a feature which becomes more and more repel-
lent as time goes by, and finally banishes the specimen to
some degraded shop of a dealer in old metal. The true
artist, though conscious that he toils for a living, has his
recollection of the fact effaced by love for his work. At

215 '

JAPAN

times he will lay aside his chisel for months if he finds that
his heart is not in his work. When the inspiration arrives,
however, he becomes so completely absorbed in his task that
he cannot bear to lay it aside, day or night, until it is fin-
ished. There is vitality in the result : it is surpassingly
good. But if the question of gain be considered, it is found
that although the productions of the master fetch a high
price, the profit to him is not as great as that accruing from
inferior work quickly executed and cheaply sold. The
poet Basho says, " Pity it is that the shira-uo (a tiny river-
fish of silvery transparency and almost colourless) should
have a price." A great artist is injured when the price of
his work is discussed : it should be above price. Business
men would do well to lay this precept to heart : " Only to
accumulate gold and silver is to be their slave." The true
aim should be to develop an extensive trade and to achieve
a great career, just as the artist cherishes and strives for the
reputation of his art rather than of himself.

The chefs-d'oeuvre of the thirteen Goto masters as well as
those of other celebrities are, for the most part, treasured as
precious heirlooms in the families that possess them. They
seldom come into the hands of the dealer. On the rare
occasions, however, when one of these gems does pass into
a merchant's keeping, some one is always charmed by it, and
has a great mind to buy it, but cannot readily persuade him-
self to pay the price, and so asks the dealer to let him keep
it for a time, during which he privately consults the opinions
of other dealers as to the proper figure. That man's chief
aim is to come into cheap possession of a great work, and
happily he is almost always disappointed. He does an
injustice to the work. The nobility that gives greatness
to an artist's efforts, the quality that brings genuine success
to the trader, the appreciation that enables us to acquire fine
objects of virtu, — these things are inaccessible unless the
mind be set upon a high ideal. Sometimes valuable master-
pieces are found among specimens supposed to be common,
and a fortunate discovery is called " unearthing a treasure "
(horidashi). The discoverer boasts of it, but if he had true
elevation of mind and refinement of taste, he would be above
such pettiness. It is the luck of the mere trader.

216

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

MISCELLANEOUS REMARKS

Fugitive references to the fact that swords have been more
or less ornamented from ancient times are found in old rec-
ords, and it is said that some learned antiquarians claim to
have information about the matter. But it is exceedingly
difficult to ascertain the exact circumstances relating to the
origin of the ornaments known under the general name
kodogu (small furniture). Doubtless they were suggested at
the outset by some idea of utility. It is only possible to
state here the views embodied in mediaeval annals and enter-
tained by scholars of modern times. In old families of
artists and among persons that give professional instruction
in polite accomplishments many opinions have been handed
down traditionally. Sometimes these opinions are kept
mysteriously secret, but of course they become known at last,
and then too often they are found to be conflicting or to be
based on some silly theories about the " Five Elements " of
Chinese philosophy. Everything of that kind is excluded
from this volume.

MENVKI (RIVET-NUT)

The menuki was originally a species of " nut" into which
were inserted the ends of the rivet (mekugf) used for attach-
ing the haft of the sword to the hilt. Thus the menuki not
only held the rivet in its place, but also covered its ends (vide
the learned Hakuseki's treatise on arms and armour). But
in later days the mekugi and the menuki became quite distinct.
An old-time poet writes : ".Whose son is he, girding on a
sword with silver menuki^ that walks the streets of Nara
city ? " from which it may be inferred that the tachi (curved
sword) of the Nara epoch (eighth century) had sometimes
silver ornaments. Again, in the Annals of the Kamakura
Era, mention is made of an " ox-shaped menuki" but noth-
ing is said of its material or of its maker. The menuki chis-
elled in high relief, as used in the present day, is supposed to
have been first made by Goto Yujo (1439-1512), but whether
there were any such before his time is not known. Tradi-
tion affirms that before Yujo's era there lived an artist called

217

JAPAN

Ichikawa Hirosuke, who, working with three kinds of chisel
only, originated the decorative sculpture of sword ornaments
as it is now known. However that may be, the world cer-
tainly recognises Yujo as the father of the art. Possibly the
natural pride of the Goto family is in some degree respon-
sible for this fact, but their pre-eminent achievements have
silenced too close scrutiny into dates. It is beyond question,
however, that so far as the menuki are concerned, the idea of
giving to them various shapes according to the fancy of their
owner was already in vogue during the time (1334—1573)
of the Ashi.kaga SKoguns sway in Kyoto, and continued to
be in fashion until the menuki became objects of artistic
rivalry. Whether anything of the kind existed in China is
not known.

KOZUKA (DAGGER)

It is not certain when the kozuka first came to be carried
in the scabbard of the companion sword (wakizashi). In
the Taira Annals (I'aibei-ki) there is a description of the
assassination of Prince Oto by Fuchibe, chieftain of Iga
(1335 A.D.) : " Drawing the katana of the companion sword,
he plunged it twice into the heart of the prince." The katana
here mentioned seems to have been the present kozuka. . . .
On the whole, it may be concluded that the custom of carry-
ing the kozuka in the scabbard of the short-sword had its
origin in the Ashikaga era (fourteenth century).

KOGAI (HAIRPIN)

The word kogai is another way of pronouncing kamikaki
(hair comb.) There is ample evidence to prove this, as well
as to show that the kogai was actually used in old times for
combing the hair. When helmets were worn, the hair
naturally became dishevelled, and the kogai consequently
became an essential of the warrior's equipment.

FUCHI KASHIRA (RiNG AND TIP)

There is no explanation of the custom which commonly
groups these objects together and speaks of the fuchi-gashira

218

S WO R D-F U RN I T U R E

as though they were necessarily associated. They are essen-
tial parts of the sword, and though now highly ornate, they
cannot be properly classed as sword ornaments.

TSUBA (GUARD)

This term is derived from the name of a kind of cotton-
spinning spindle which had a ring fixed on it. The tsuba of
course existed from a very ancient epoch. It is mentioned
in annals compiled in the eighth century, and is often spoken
of as neri-tsuba (wrought-iron guard). The sword of Takauji,
preserved at Atago-san, has a guard of wrought iron, and in
the Taira Annals (Taihei-ki] gold guards are referred to.

N.B. Sometimes a specimen which does not bear a name
indicating that it belongs to the class of either iye-bori (carvings
of the principal Goto family) or domyo-bori (carvings of the
branch Goto families), but which is nevertheless of such fine
workmanship as to suggest that it came from a master's
chisel, is sent to the Goto family for inspection, and returned
with a written statement, " found inferior on examination
and not identified by us." The dealers call such specimens
" rejects " (nageraresht), and it is said that the Goto experts
put a chisel mark — the gimmi-tagane — on all these pieces,
so that they can be at once recognised if submitted again for
examination, but where the mark is placed the family never
divulges.

N.B. The double kogai (wari-kogat), which is usually
decorated with carvings of a plum-tree and a brushwood
fence, or of bamboo, flowers, and plants, generally goes by
the name of fayukogai, because its reputed originator (Kahei)
became a skilled singer and received the musical title
tayu.

N.B. In the chiselling of the fish-roe ground (nanako]
slight differences are observable between the works of the
artists of Yedo, Kaga, Kyoto, Awa, and so on. A good
judge of carving must be familiar with these differences, but
it is useless to attempt any written description of them.

219

JAPAN

THE FOURTEEN GENERATIONS OF THE GOTO FAMILY

1. Yujo — the founder of the family, true name Masa-
oki Shirobei — held the title of " Sado-no-kami " (lord of
Sado), A native of Mino, he served in a military capacity
under the Ashikaga chieftain, Yoshinori. Born in 1439, ne
died in 1512, at the age of seventy-three. Yujo obtained
many of his designs from the celebrated painter Kano Masa-
nobu. He is regarded as the founder of the school of
sword-decorators, and his works possess great value. He
invented the style of chiselling called taka-bori (carving in
high relief), and his work is almost supernaturally skilled.
It may be compared to the "exquisite view of Gobi's snow-
clad peak towering lofty in the sky " (from a Chinese poet),
or to the weeping-willow in the Imperial garden as it waves
in the soft breeze, or to the lovely lotus in the fairy lake
washed by pearls of dew. So elevated is the tone, so delight-
fully chaste the character, of the carving that one cannot look
at it without emotion. The traces of the chisel are at once
bold and delicate, and every part of the work stands out
vivid and almost divine. Yujo may truly be called the
" Saint of the Art."

2. Sojo, true name of Takemitsu Shirobei, was the son of
Yujo. He received the art title Hogen. Born 1486 ; died
1564. His work resembles that of his father so closely as
to be almost indistinguishable. The carvings of the two
masters may be compared to the iris and the sweet flag, dis-
tinct plants which nevertheless bear a strong likeness to each
other in colour, fragrance, and even time of flowering.

3. Joshin, true name Yoshihisa Shirobei, was the son of
Sojo. Born 1511; died 1562. The marks of the chisel
are sharp ; the relief very high and the depression deep. It
is strong work. In making a menuki of shakudo or gold, he
beat it into the desired form, and then added the plating in
colours. This method was called uchidashi (repousse\ and
the addition of the coloured metals without fracturing the
ground was known as uttori. This style obtained much
vogue in Joshin's time, but is less fashionable now. The

220

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

art of inlaying (zogan], as applied to sword ornaments, was
also inaugurated by Joshin, and his productions are the most
varied and peculiar of the iye-bori works. His work may be
compared to a brave warrior who is not only a strong guar-
dian but also a trusty councillor ; for while it has boldness
and strength, it has also something of delicacy and soft-
ness. He bore a different art-flower, but the same fruit as
his predecessor.

4. Kwojo, called also Mitsuiye, was born in 1530, and
died in 1620. He was a son of Joshin. His work re-
sembles that of Yujo in style. It is noble and dignified,
neither too strong nor too weak. The impression it con-
veys is that of resting under the green shadow of a patri-
archal pine and looking out on a glow of cherry bloom.
Or it may be compared to a noble lady standing beside the
brushwood gate of a rustic dwelling.

5. Tokujo, called also Mitsutsugu, was the son of Kwojo.
Born 1549 ; died 1631. Hideyoshi, the Taikb, conferred
an estate on him in the year 1580. His work has the
characteristic of strong surface modelling, and many speci-
mens are scarcely distinguishable from those of his father
Kwojo. Looking at his designs, one is reminded of white
sails scattered near and far over the wide bosom of the sea
when the brooding breath of spring softens their outlines.
It was in Tokujo's time that the custom originated of issu-
ing certificates of authenticity (orikami] with the works of
the Goto family. One of his sons, Chojo, became the foun-
der of a branch of the family known as the " Shimo-Goto"
(lower Goto).

6. Yeijo, called also Masamitsu, the son of Tokujo, was
born in 1574 and died in 1617. His work combines the
finished skill of both Kwojo and Tokujo, and has, at the
same time, a certain quality of richness, tenderness, and rest-
fulness. One may find a comparison in the view of a little
boy driving an ox to pasture on a verdant plain ; or the
carriage of a nobleman standing beside a rustic fence over
which convolvulus blossoms cluster.

7. Kenjo, called also Masatsugu, was a son of Tokujo.
He represented the family during the minority of his
nephew Sokujo, and was promoted to the rank of Hokkyo.

221

JAPAN

Born 1585; died 1663. His manner of using the chisel
greatly resembled that of Kwojo. One is reminded of
a pine-tree and a bamboo covered with snow : they present
a delightful contrast, but at heart retain the same changeless
green. The fidelity and chastity of his work force them-
selves into notice. During the Kwanyei era (1625—1643)
his services were engaged by the feudal chief of Kaga, who
gave him a pension of 150 koku of rice annually (about 1,500
yen), and he made it a custom thenceforth to live in Kaga
every second year.

8. Sokujo, called also Mitsushige, was the son of Yeijo.
Born 1603 ; died 1631. His style resembles that of Kenjo,
and is characterised by directness, strength, and vigour.
Connoisseurs are wont to class the works of Yujo, Kojo, and
Kenjo as the •" three chefs-d'oeuvre" (sansaku), but specimens
by Sokujo are exchangeable with those of Kenjo. There
is a notion that something of the value attaching to Sokujo's
works is due to their rarity, for as he died at the early age of
twenty-eight, his productions were not numerous. But that
is a mistake. He was a veritable genius, and to that fact
alone is due the esteem in which his carvings are held. It
is believed by good judges that had he lived longer and
attained the mastery of technique which many years of
effort can alone give, he would even have surpassed his an-
cestors, and a sympathetic perception of his latent capacities
has something to do with the rank accorded to him by pos-
terity. In the same way connoisseurs often class the works
of Tsujo (eleventh representative), Sokujo, and Kwojo as the
three chefs-d 'ceuvre^ declining to include the sculptures of
Yujo, whom they place in a rank by himself as a divine and
matchless master. That is a point of delicacy.

9. Teijo, called also Mitsumasa, the son of Kenjo, was
born in 1603, and died in 1673. He represented the family
during the minority of his nephew Renjo. He was pro-
moted to the art rank of Hokkyo. His works are at once
charming, noble, and dignified. It is impossible to deny
their title to be called masterpieces. Though his time was
not very remote from our own era (1781), his carvings have
the peculiar aspect of age presented by the work of Kwojo
and the other early masters. The chisel-marks are some-

222

SWORD-FURNITURE

what deep, clear, and strong. His designs suggest the feel-
ing experienced when, looking out under the bamboo blinds
from the upper room of a lofty riverside dwelling, one sees
the moon rise on an autumn evening. This artist succeeded
to the pension of his father Kenjo, and used to live in Kana-
zawa (chief town of Kaga) every second year. In the house
that he inhabited there may still be seen a stone garden-ewer
with the figure of Hakuga (a Chinese poet) engraved on it
by the chisel of Teijo. It is said that during Teijo's time
the Goto family employed a number of Kyoto chisellers to
do rough work.

10. Renjo, called also Mitsutomo, son of Sokujo, was
born in 1626 and died 1708. His work is gentle and mag-
nanimous in tone. It reminds one of the quiet, subdued
style in which the story of Akashi is told by the author of
the Minamoto Annals (Genji Monogatari). He lived to
a ripe old age and had many pupils, so that his works are
often found. A son of his called Mitsuyoshi gave promise
of future greatness, but unfortunately died young and few
specimens exist from his chisel.

11. Tsujo, called also M itsutoshi, was the son of Senjo
and grandson of Teijo. He did not belong to the elder
branch of the family. Born in 1668, he died 1721. His
works are classed among the " three chefs-tf ceuvre (san-saku)"
His style is somewhat showy. One can almost smell the fra-
grance of the flowers he chiselled, his birds seem to be on
the point of flying or in actual flight, and his human figures
smile as though words hovered on their lips. His sculp-
tures are in truth beautiful beyond expression. Chinese
annals tell of a puppet presented by a certain artist to a great
monarch, and describe how the figure sang and danced auto-
matically. That was a mere mechanical contrivance for the
amusement of the moment. Very different is the air of
vivid vitality imparted to his sculpture by the master-artist.
There is no actual motion to strike the eye of the common
observer, but there is a latent force that imparts to every-
thing the element of motion, and creates a precious picture
to be for ever esteemed and admired.

12. Jujo, called also Mitsumasa, son of Tsujo, was born
in 1694 and died in 1742. His work differs from that of

223

JAPAN

Tsujo. It resembles the best productions of Mitsutaka,
the present (1781) representative of the family. One is
reminded of a man reaching his goal by steadily treading
the right road. There is also an element of balanced
strength that suggests the fabulous serpent of Jozan, which
could defend itself equally with either end.

13. Yenjo, called also Mitsutaka ; son of Jujo, was born
in 1720 and died in 1784. Criticised unreservedly, his
works seem to vary in quality. The best are not unlike the
productions of Tsujo, for which they may easily be mis-
taken. The lustre of his house is not tarnished, nor the
long-sustained reputation of his family impaired, in his
hands.

Since the death of Yujo, the founder of the family, two
hundred and sixty years have passed. During that time the
works of the masters from generation to generation have
found their way into the hands of the great and the noble,
who treasure them as precious possessions, their value aug-
menting as time rolls on. That is because the art of the
illustrious ancestor has been adorned by the achievements
of his descendants, every one of whom was himself a master.
These happy results are mainly due, however, to the peace-
ful sway by which we are blessed, and to the tranquil times
when men have leisure to show their respect for the dignity
of a sword by the decoration they lavish on its mountings.

14. Keijo, called also Mitsumori, son of Yenjo, was born
in 1 739, and is still living (1781) in the Kyobashi district of
Yedo. The work of this artist has the beauty of his grand-
father Tsujo's carving, together with the well-balanced ar-
rangement of his predecessors. His style is his own. There
is a tender suggestiveness about his designs that reminds
one of a light shower sweeping across the verdant slope of
a mountain, or a soft haze resting on the bosom of a limpid
lake. His work always shows that noble elevation of tone
which belongs to the true artist and can never be imitated.

N. B. Here follow facsimiles of the certificates orikami
(lit. "folded paper") given by the Goto experts, but such
documents convey no information to foreign readers, and,
moreover, have been so often and so successfully forged that
to distinguish the true from the false is now almost as diffi-

224

WOODEN BRACKETS.

Carved by Matsumoto Kisaburo.

SWORD-FURNITURE

cult as to judge the qualities and identify the sculptor of the
art objects to which they refer.

The reader will agree that these commentaries from
the pen of a Japanese connoisseur convey a truer and
more trustworthy idea of the attitude of the Japanese
mind towards the work of the sculptor of sword-
ornaments, and, indeed, toward art in general, than
could possibly be gathered from a foreign analysis.
Even the most intelligent and least prejudiced foreign
student has much, nay, insuperable, difficulty in trac-
ing the exact processes of Japanese intelligence. The
Japanese are quiet folks. They never expatiate upon
beauties presumably as obvious to others as to them-
selves; never enter into perfervid disquisitions about
the " features " of a natural or an artificial picture.
To do so would be to slight the eloquence of the
picture itself and to insult the intelligence of the ob-
server. A Japanese collector, unless his habits of
thought and speech have been radically modified by
intercourse with Occidentals, will show the whole of
his treasures — if, indeed, he can be induced to show
them at all — without making, from first to last, the
briefest comment on their " points." The sole ex-
ception is in the case of an object which claims the
reverence of association, — an object once honoured
by the ownership of some celebrated warrior, states-
man, or litterateur, and hallowed by the " odile " (ko-
taku} of his touch. Concerning the origin of such a
treasure he will volunteer some information, its story
being otherwise untraceable. But whatever is within
the unaided reach of expert observation, he leaves to be
observed. His silence has been greatly misinterpreted.
The ordinary foreigner construes it as evidence either
of undeveloped speech or of an unfurnished mind.

VOL. VII. 15 225

JAPAN

Strange conclusions surely, the one involving the hy-
pothesis that the silent vocabulary of a people's shaping
art may be richer than the spoken vocabulary of the
idealism informing that art ; the other, the still more
unreasonable assumption that a nation can be blind
to the beauties of its own creation. Michitaka's com-
ments on the works of the Goto sculptors dispel all
these delusions. Some of his comparisons may sound
even extravagant. They are not extravagantly ex-
pressed, however. Nothing could be simpler than
the language in which they are couched. Nature
speaks to the Japanese in words of clearest meaning.
Other eyes drink in just as deep a draught of enchant-
ment from sunset on " the happy autumn fields " or
from moonlight bathing a cherry grove in spring ; but
it may be truly said of the Japanese that in the course
of long centuries of refined civilisation, they have
gradually grouped together nature's fairest combina-
tions into a series of ideograms each of which has come
to be intimately associated with conceptions and emo-
tions which the physical aspects of the scene alone
could not suggest or inspire. There exists a wide field
of thought which, though open to poetry, is closed to
the arts of manual imitation. But from what does
poetry derive its special sway over regions of the mind
that lie beyond the direct influence of imitative art ?
Is it not from its power of invoking from the recesses
of the heart feelings and experiences to which the
painter or sculptor can appeal only by accidental asso-
ciation ? In Japan, however, poetry has so constantly
and faithfully drawn its inspiration from nature's im-
ages, and has been so loyally content to limit itself to
appreciated interpretations of their suggestions, that
mere mention of a particular combination of natural

226

SWORD-FURNITURE

beauties summons to Japanese sight a picture of con-
crete loveliness and to the Japanese mind a poem of
abstract ideas. Thus, when Michitaka speaks of " a
light shower sweeping across the verdant slope of a
mountain," or of " a soft haze resting on the bosom
of a limpid lake," or of " white sails on a wide sea,
their outlines softened by the brooding breath of
spring," he knows that he is recalling to educated
minds, not only delightful images, but also certain
subtleties of artistic conception and certain shades of
emotion which convey his meaning with accuracy
such as no mere verbal analysis could achieve.

The above remarks apply to the style and the tech-
nique only of the art. The author of the Soken Kisbo
seldom makes reference to decorative motives, unless a
sculptor's fame is connected with some special depar-
ture in that direction. The quality of the chiselling
is, in fact, the first point to which the Japanese con-
noisseur directs his attention. On the other hand,
the decorative design is the prime object of the Occi-
dental dilettante's admiration. In "L'Art Japonais"
that most appreciative critic, M. Gonse, says : —

On se blase vite sur 1'adresse technique des ciseleurs
Japonais, tant elle semble chez eux un don de nature ; mais
on eprouve une jouissance toujours nouvelle dans 1'etude du
decor lui-meme. Quel tact, quelle souplesse ! Comme les
deux cotes so completent harmonieusement ! Car, bien sou-
vent, le sujet se continue sur le face et sur le revers et presente
dans chacune de ces parties le meme interet. Quelquefois
meme il chevauche sur le grand et le petit sabre. On verra
Sh5ki, sur la grande garde poursuivant le diable qui se cache
sur la petite ; dans Tune, Komachi nous apprait jeune et re-
splendissante de beaute; dans 1'autre, vielle et courbee par
1'age, &c. L' etude du microcosme de cet art pourrait con-
duire a 1'infini.

727

JAPAN

The standpoint of the French connoisseur's eulogy
is as far removed as possible from the standpoint of
the Japanese themselves. The fact is that M. Gonse,
who must be taken as representing the most intelli-
gent class of Occidental students of Japanese art, rivets
his attention on the work of the painter rather than
on that of the sculptor ; considers the pictorial motive
in preference to the glyptic method. Now, as a rule
with very rare exceptions, the decorative motives of
Japanese sword-furniture were always supplied by
painters. There exist innumerable volumes of de-
signs from the brushes of more or less renowned
artists, and to these the sculptor habitually referred for
inspiration. All classes of art-artisans possessed such
volumes, and were prepared to submit them for a
customer's choice of motive. Hence it is that the
Japanese connoisseur draws a clear line of distinction
between the decorative design and its technical exe-
cution, crediting the former to the pictorial artist, the
latter to the sculptor. The enthusiastic eulogies and
poetic comparisons of the Sbken Kishl) refer, not to
the pictures chiselled on sword-guards, dagger-hafts,
or hilt-tips, but to the manner of their execution.
Michitaka, in common with all Japanese connoisseurs,
detected in the stroke of a chisel and the lines of a
graving-tool subjective beauties which appear to be
hidden from the great majority of Western dilettanti.
He never fell into the mistake of confusing the
inspirations supplied by the decorative artist with
the technical achievements of the sculptor himself.
However elaborate may be the decorative design,
however interesting the motive, the Japanese con-
noisseur never forgets to look first to the chisel work.
By its quality alone he estimates the rank of a speci-

228

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

men, just as the critic of pictures judges the authen-
ticity of a painting by the force, directness, and
delicacy of the brush strokes. This becomes more
easily comprehensible when it is remembered that
vigour and grace of line-drawing are the prime essen-
tials of fine art in the eyes of a Japanese, and that his
almost instinctive appreciation of those qualities in a
picture equips him with a special standard for judging
the excellence of sculpture such as is found upon
sword-furniture. The Japanese dogu-bori used thirty-
six principal classes of chisel, each with its distinctive
name, and as most of these classes included from five
to ten sub-varieties, his cutting and graving tools aggre-
gated about two hundred and fifty. This fact alone
suffices to suggest the delicacy and elaborateness of
his work.

There are certain technical facts a knowledge of
which is necessary not only to the connoisseur of
sword-ornaments, but also to the student of Japanese
metal work in all its admirable developments. In
the first place, the nature of the metals employed has
much interest, as well for the sake of the insight it
affords into the metallurgical ingenuity of the Jap-
anese as for its bearing upon this branch of the
country's art.

Japan did not at any time possess an abundance of
gold. The principal source of supply was river sands,
and in washing out the precious metal processes were
employed which, though apparently rough, have been
proved by Western experts to be profitably applicable
to gravel yielding only six cents worth of gold per
cubic yard.1 If the descriptions of Japan penned
by Koempfer and other early writers were accepted

1 See Appendix, note 29.

229

JAPAN

literally, it would be necessary to conclude that gold
was exceptionally abundant and profusely used for
ornamental purposes. But the truth is that although
the Japanese loved the rich glow of the noble metal
and utilised it largely in the adornment of temples, in
domestic architecture, and for various ornaments and
utensils, they thoroughly understood the art of making
a little go a long way, and many objects which a
casual observer might readily mistake for solid gold,
were nothing more than gilded copper.1 Still, as
the gold-leaf employed for gilding2 purposes was
thicker than that serving the same end in the Occi-
dent, the quantity of the precious metal required for
coating Buddhist images (whether of bronze or wood),
temple utensils, and architectural ornaments must have
been considerable. Table utensils of gold or silver
did not exist, with the exception of cups for drinking
wine and vessels for mulling it, together with small
kettles, censers, and other minor objects to be spoken
of by-and-by. For the manufacture of sword-orna-
ments, however, — especially menuki, — and pouch-
mountings, pure gold was constantly used. Guards
of solid gold are scarcely ever found, except in the
case of the alkuchi (a short dagger-like weapon carried
by the samurai and used to cut off the head of a fallen
enemy). It is true that several collectors in Europe
and America possess, among their art treasures, large
tsuba (guards) of pure gold, ornamented with the
utmost elaboration of detail. But these, with few
exceptions, were made expressly for sale to foreigners,
and never formed part of a Japanese sword. The
term " pure gold " is not used here in an absolutely
literal sense. In former times the Japanese were not

1 Sec Appendix, note 30. a See Appendix, note 3 I .

230

SWORD-FURNITURE

familiar with the delicate assaying methods in vogue
in the West, and could not determine the quality of
either gold or silver with the extreme accuracy attained
at an American or European mint. They used a
touchstone only, a small plate of black siliceous shale,
but used it with such skill that their results — accord-
ing to an eminent authority, Mr. W. Gowland —
did not show a maximum difference of more than one
per cent from assays made by Occidental methods.1
Their success with silver was not equally marked,
but they were able to obtain it so pure that five hun-
dred and fifty-five specimens_pf old silver assayed in
recent years at the Imperial Osaka Mint were found
to contain an average of 99.3 per cent of pure metal.
It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to note that for manu-
facturing purposes pure gold or silver was never used,
the former being alloyed with silver and copper and the
latter with copper, not with the idea of debasement,
but in order to obtain greater hardness and freedom
from vesicular cavities when casting. If, however, the
Japanese metallurgist possessed and practised highly
skilled methods of freeing the precious metals from im-
purities, he was also remarkably clever in " surfacing ' '
either gold or silver so as to obtain an appearance of
absolute purity. The question here is not of patina, —
a legitimate and beautiful feature which Japanese
craftsmen had exceptionally ingenious devices for
imparting to all the metals used in objects of art, —
but to a process originally elaborated in connection
with debased coins, and sometimes resorted to by art-
artisans of low class, though no kinzoku-sbi (gold-
smith) of repute ever descended to such deception, — a
process of dissolving out the impurities from the

1 See Appendix, note 32.

231

JAPAN

upper layers of a gold or silver alloy until the surface
assumed the appearance of pure metal.1

Gold and silver, though here spoken of in some
detail, played a subsidiary rather than a principal part
in the manufacture of sword-ornaments, being used
chiefly to pick out the details of the decorative design.
The ground metals were iron, copper, and, above all,
shakudo and shibulchiy two alloys invented by the Japan-
ese and never used by any other people. Owing to the
great beauty of the patinas that can be given to them,
these alloys are uniquely excellent for art purposes.

Shakudo (literally, " red copper ") is an alloy of gold
with excess of copper, the approximate proportions
being three per cent of gold to ninety-seven of cop-
per. The alloy, when it emerges from the furnace,
presents no special features, being simply dark-col-
oured copper. Its value for artistic purposes depends
on the fact that a glossy black patina with violet
sheen may be produced on its surface by suitable
treatment. Mr. W. Gowland, who has devoted
special research to this subject, says : —

The alloy has been long known to the Japanese, but
there are no records of its first use, and the date of its origin
cannot be even approximately determined. Perhaps the least
doubtful of the earliest specimens known to us are the mounts
of the sword of Ashikaga Takauji, who held the position of
SHbgun from 1335 to 1337, which is preserved in the temple
of Itsukushima. There may be earlier examples, but it was
certainly not known in the ninth century. The oldest speci-
men of Buddhist art-metal work in the decoration of which
shakudo appears, so far as I have been able to trace, is a reli-
quary containing fragments of the bones of St. Nichiren in
the famous temple of Minobu (date 1580). In many temples
there are statues of divinities and saints which are said to be

1 See Appendix, note 33.

232

SWORD-FURNITURE

composed of this alloy, but those I have had the opportunity
of examining were all of ordinary copper-tin-lead bronze.
In the seventeenth century it was extensively employed,
but the finest examples of it as a decorative alloy are found
in the guards and other furniture of the swords of the last
century and the first half of the present. The addition of
gold to bronze in order to obtain a black patina has been
long known to the Chinese. It is hence possible that the
Japanese may have learned from them this peculiar property
of gold ; but the pure alloy of copper and gold, of the true
shakudo, is essentially Japanese, and is unapproached in the
beauty and richness of its patina by any alloy of the Chinese,
either of old or recent times. Its rich deep tones of black,
and the splendid polish which it is capable of receiving, ren-
der it alike a perfect ground for inlaid designs of gold, silver,
and copper, and for being similarly inlaid in them. This
alloy, too, possesses physical properties which are of extreme
importance to the worker in metals, and enable him to
manipulate and fashion it as he desires. It can be cast into
any form ; can be hammered into sheets and drawn into
wire. No large castings, however, have been made of it.
The method by which the black patina is produced is as
follows : The object is first boiled in a lye prepared by lixivi-
ating wood ashes ; after which it is carefully polished, if
necessary, with charcoal powder. It is then immersed in
plum-vinegar containing common salt in solution, and, after
being washed with a weak lye, is placed in a tub of water to
remove all traces of alkali. After this treatment it is digested
in a boiling solution of copper sulphate, verdigris, and water,
to which sometimes potassium nitrate is added, and the
desired patina is produced.

It is roughly stated above that s ha kudo is composed
of 97 per cent of copper to 3 of gold. But, in truth,
no less than fifteen grades of the alloy are used by
Japanese craftsmen. The lowest of them — called
chiusho — contains only traces of gold, and the highest
has as much as 7 per cent of the precious metal.
Analyses of seven specimens of shakudo made by Mr.

233

4.16

0.08

95-77

—

3-75

1-55

94.50

O.I I

2.67

2.06

94.90

o. n

2.45

1.24

96.00

0.06

1.52

2.01

96. 10

0.08

I.OO

1-37

97.40

0.07

0.49

0.29

99.04

—

JAPAN

Gowland, Mr. Kalischer, and Mr. Atkinson gave the
following results : —

ANALYSES OF "SHAKUDO."

Gold. Silver. Copper. Lead. Iron. Arsenic. Total.

IOO.OI

Trace Trace 99-^9
99-74
99-75
99.71
99.84
99.82

Another alloy peculiar to Japan and of at least
equal importance with shakudo for artistic purposes, is
shibuichi, a term literally signifying "one part in four;"
that is to say, one part of silver by weight to three of
copper. That, doubtless, was the original composition
of the alloy. Indeed Japanese records state definitely
that the ordinary variety of shibuichi contained 10
momme (5.8 grs. Troy) of copper to 2^2 momme of
silver. But, as a matter of fact, the shibuichi employed
for sword-furniture and other artistic work was usually
the kind known as sambo-gin, which consisted of one
part of silver to two of copper. In the Sbken KisJfo
three varieties of shibuichi are enumerated, — the first
containing one part (by weight) of silver to three of
copper ; the second, one part of silver to two of cop-
per ; and the third, six or seven parts of silver to ten
of copper. Concerning the third variety the author
says : — " This is the best quality of shibuichi. It was
always used by Somin, Soyo, and other great masters
as a ground metal. Soyo, however, employed a kind
of shibuichi having a dark hue, obtained apparently
by an admixture of shakudo, though the compounding
of these two alloys presents serious technical difficul-
ties, and it is not known how he overcame them.

234

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

Speaking generally, a greyish patina and silvery lustre
are regarded as the most attractive features of shibuichi,
but Soy5's compound presents even choicer qualities.
In the course of years the finest kind of shibuichi de-
velops a peculiar lustrous dappling, like the marking
of a tiger's skin or the ground of aventurine (nasbi-ji}
lacquer." It is unnecessary to reproduce here any
analytical table of shibuichi. If to what has been
already said the fact be added that it contains a small
quantity of gold — from 0.08 to 0.12 per cent — its
composition is sufficiently described. Mr. Gowland
says of shibuichi : —

The value of this alloy in decorative metal work is, like
that of sbakudo, entirely dependent on its patina. It pos-
sesses no special beauty when cast, its colour being that of
pale gun-metal, or a common pale bronze ; but when its
surface is subjected to appropriate treatment, it assumes a
patina of charming shades of grey, which gives it an unique
position among art alloys. No other affords the artist such
a delicate, unobtrusive, and effective ground for inlaid designs
of gold, silver, or other metals. It was not known to the
Japanese in mediaeval times. In fact, it does not appear to
have been used until much later than shakudo. The descrip-
tions given of the ornamental appendages of historical swords
even as late as the seventeenth century do not mention it,
and the first record we have of the alloy only dates from the
beginning of the eighteenth century (1706 A.D.), when it
was used in the Government Mint for the preparation of
debased silver bars, termed chogin (trade silver), which were
used for commercial purposes. There are several examples
of its use in sword-guards about the same date, but it seems
then to have been chiefly employed as a substitute for a
richer alloy, a pure silver surface having been given to it by
the process already described, and not the fine grey patina of
later times. The patina is produced by precisely the same
operations which are practised for sbakudo, the solution in
which the objects are boiled having the same composition as

235

JAPAN

that used for the arsenical bronze, with the addition of i c. c.
of plum-vinegar to each litre. The finest grey tints are ob-
tained only with alloys containing from 20 to 50 per cent of
silver. By the use in his design of both these classes of
alloys, — shakudo and sbibuichi, — together with gold, silver,
copper, and iron, the Japanese craftsman has achieved results
in colour which are unrivalled in the metal work of the
world. The white of silver, the black of shakudoy the yellows
of golds of various grades, the greys of sbibuichi, and the reds
and browns of copper, — all he employs in harmonious com-
binations to enrich the effect of his sculptured work, and
shows himself in all to be a true master in the art of metal
decoration.

Copper was largely used in the manufacture of
sword-mountings. In fact the earliest sword-guards
found in Japan were made of copper thinly plated
with gold. Not until a comparatively recent date,
however, — probably the seventeenth century, — did
Japanese artists discover and put into successful prac-
tice the patina-producing methods which impart such
beauty to their work in copper, and enable them to
combine it so admirably with other metals for decora-
tive purposes. They obtain copper surfaces showing
not merely a rich golden sheen with charming lim-
pidity, but also red of various hues, from deep coral to
light vermilion, several shades of grey, and brown of
numerous tones, from dead-leaf to chocolate.1

Until the days of the Goto masters iron was the
metal exclusively used for manufacturing sword-
mounts, but Goto Yujo's fine chiselling of shakudo, and
the beautiful nanako ground that he devised for kbgai
and kozuka of that compound, gave it a vogue which
continued uninterrupted down to modern times. Nat-
urally a sculptor who contemplated the expenditure

1 See Appendix, note 34.

236

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

of much labour and skill on a small object like a guard
or a dagger-haft, was careful to use iron of the highest
quality only, and to anneal it by processes of which
each great artist made a specialty. But no less atten-
tion was bestowed on the production of patina. The
guards of early experts — the Miyochin masters down
to Nobuiye, and the Umetada prior to Muneyuki —
show a curious patina called moyashi, which suggests
the effect that would be produced by boiling a super-
ficial film of the metal. But from the seventeenth
century onwards, the patina changes, and the surface
of the metal shows a fine satin-like texture constitut-
ing one of the most beautiful features of the object.
It is, indeed, a matter of constant wonder to the un-
initiated that such a surface could have been imparted
to iron, and the patina-producing recipes — " rust-
summoning processes " (sabi-dashikata), as the Japanese
call them — of the great experts would have much
interest were they accessible. But these things were
among the hiden, or " secret traditions," of each family
of artists. No public record of them exists. Modern
experts, however, though they no longer chisel sword-
mounts, treat iron for artistic purposes in a manner
which is at least equal to that of the old masters, and
the patina-producing process for which they claim the
finest results may be described here. The first step is
to obtain a mixture of finely sifted clays, red and
black, which is placed in an open vessel and exposed
to the action of the elements for a space of two or three
years. Blue vitriol and sulphur, having then been
heated together, are added to a portion of this sea-
soned earth, and the compound forms a paste, which
is applied to the surface of the metal, this process being
repeated time after time, at intervals of from four to

237

JAPAN

five days, and occupying altogether about two months.
If the expert judges that a good patina has been ob-
tained, he now washes the metal carefully and polishes
it with a brush (tawasht} of rice-straw. This pre-
liminary polishing is a long business, and when it has
been carried far enough, the final burnishing is done
with dried spikelets of the pine-tree, after which it
remains only to damp the object repeatedly with an
infusion of tea-leaves during four or five days. Such
is the method pursued by Ito Katsumi, a modern
expert of the highest skill. Another plan, more
curious and said to be very efficacious, is to substitute
for the mixture of red and black earth mentioned
above some charcoal ashes taken from beneath the
gridiron on which eels have been roasted. Into an
open vessel containing this ash a small bag of sulphur
is inserted, and the mixture is exposed in the open
air for two or three years, by which time the ash has
become thoroughly impregnated with sulphur. Re-
peated coats of it are then applied to the iron object
at intervals, for about two months, after which polish-
ing and burnishing are effected as before. Tradition
says that the early Miyochin masters burnished their
iron with a cotton cloth dipped in the juice of the
lacquer-tree, but there is no certainty as to that point.
It is understood, of course, that the processes here de-
scribed are peculiar to certain experts. Many quaint
recipes might be obtained by setting down the alleged
hiden of this family or that. But it is plain that the
published accounts of these methods are intended to
deceive rather than to instruct.

Scarcely less important in Japanese eyes than the
chiselling of the decorative design itself is the prepa-
ration of the field to which it is applied. This part

238

SWORD-FURNITURE

of the subject has hitherto received little attention
from European and American commentators, possibly
because it has a technical rather than an artistic
character. The translation given above from the
Soken Kisho shows that nanako (fish-roe grounds) were
counted de rigueur for kogai or kozuka from the time
(1469) of Goto Yujo, and that grounds in the ishime
(stone-pitting) or jimigaki (polished) style were not
considered proper for swords worn on ceremonial
occasions. These remarks do not apply to iron
sword-mounts. In the case of iron the patina alone
was esteemed. Sometimes, though very rarely, the
coarsest kind of ishime (arashi-ishime) was employed
even on iron guards to heighten the effect of recessed
chiselling, but it is generally true that shakudo was
the favourite metal for nanako grounds, and shibuichi
or copper for Ishime.

As a broad definition it may be said that nanako is
obtained by punching the whole surface, except the
portion carrying the decorative design, into a texture
of microscopic dots. The first makers of nanako
did not aim at regularity in the distribution of these
dots : they were content to produce the effect of
millet-seed sifted, hap-hazard, over the surface. But
very soon — certainly by the time of Goto Yujo —
the punching of the dots in rigidly straight lines
came to be considered essential, and the difficulty in-
volved in this tour de force was so great that nanako-
making took its place among the highest technical
achievements of the sculptor. When it is remem-
bered that the punching-tool was guided solely by
the hand and eye, and that three or more blows of
the mallet had to be struck for every dot, some idea
may be formed of the patience and accuracy needed

239

JAPAN

to produce these tiny protuberances in perfectly
straight lines at exactly equal intervals and of abso-
lutely uniform size, so that a magnifying-glass can
scarcely detect any variation in their order or size.
Nanako disposed in straight parallel lines has always
ranked at the head of this kind of work, but a new
style was introduced in 1560 by Matabei, the second
representative of the Muneta family. It was obtained
by punching the dots in intersecting lines, so arranged
that the dots fell uniformly into diamond-shaped
groups of five each. This is called go-no-me (some-
times gu-no-me) nanako, because of its resemblance to
the disposition of chequers in the Japanese game of go.
A century later (1640), another representative of the
Muneta family - — Norinao, known in the art world
as Doki — invented a new style of nanako to which
the name of daimyo-nanako was given, doubtless be-
cause its special excellence seemed to reserve it for
the use of the great nobles (daimyo} only. In this
variety the lines of dots alternated with lines of pol-
ished ground.

Ishime may be described briefly as diapering. A
diapered ground is known in Japan, however, by the
special term wari-ishime (i.e. ishime distributed in pat-
terns). There is scarcely any limit to the ingenuity
and skill of the Japanese expert in diapering a metal
surface. Thus one may see a silver teapot having
its surface recessed in forty or fifty leaf-shaped panels,
each panel filled with a different diaper of minute
and delicate workmanship. But the ishime used on
the fields of sword-mounts does not belong to the
diaper class, according to Japanese nomenclature.
There are, first, the zara-maki (broad-cast), — some-
times called tatsuta-maki, — • in which the surface is

240

.RSTtatlTATa Y.5TOVI VlflilCIOI/

rS3^2fi^ac
<rile2 sfaemBH \B .usaY waH erft to tatfiw laii^ srft gnlweib item blO .1

MODERN IVORY STATUETTES.

(See page 155.)

1. Old man drawing the first water of tho New Year. By Hamada Seiko.

2. Farmer. By Udagawa Kazuo.

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

finely but irregularly pitted, after the manner of the
face of a stone ; second, the kashiji (pear-ground)
ishime, which gives a surface like the rind of a pear ;
third, the kari-ishime, where the indentations are so
minute that they seem to have been made with
the point of a needle (hari) ; fourth, the gama-ishime,
which is intended to imitate the skin of a toad
(gama) ; fifth, the tsuya-ishime (lustrous), produced
with a chisel sharpened so that its traces have a bril-
liant appearance ; sixth, orekuchi (broken-tool) ishime,
a peculiar kind obtained by fracturing a chisel and
hammering the surface of the metal with the jagged
tool (this last variety is spoken of as arashi-ishime,
a generic term applied to all rough work) ; and
seventh, gozame-ishime, so called because it resembles
the plaited surface of a fine straw-mat. These details
may seem insignificant, but without some knowledge
of them it is impossible to appreciate the quality of
Japanese metal work.

A word must also be said about the different
methods of chiselling. Of these the most important
is taka-bori, or chiselling in relief. The Japanese
distinguish three varieties of relief carving, namely,
atsu-nlku-bori (high relief ), or alto relievo ; chiu-niku-
bori (medium relief), mezzo relievo ; usu-niku-bori (low
relief) or basso relievo. These expressions explain
themselves. But it may be added that, in the opinion
of the Japanese expert, they occupy the same respec-
tive rank as the three kinds of ideographic script
occupy in the realm of calligraphy. High-relief carv-
ing corresponds with the kai-shoy or most correct
and classical form of writing ; medium relief, with
the gyo-sho, or semi-cursive style ; and low-relief,
with the so-shot or grass character. Passing to incised

VOL. VII. I 6 2AI

JAPAN

chiselling, the commonest form is ke-borit or " hair
cutting," which may be called engraving, the lines
being of uniform thickness and depth. Very beauti-
ful results are obtained by the ke-bori method. But
incomparably the finest work in the incised class is
that known as kata-kiri-bori. In this kind of chisel-
ling the Japanese expert claims to be unique as well
as unrivalled. It is easy to see that the idea of the
great Yokoya experts, the originators of this style,
was to break away from the somewhat formal monot-
ony of ordinary engraving, where each line performs
exactly the same function, and to convert the chisel
into an artist's brush instead of using it as a common
cutting-tool. They succeeded admirably. In the
kata-kiri-bori every line has its proper value in the
pictorial design, and strength and directness become
prime elements in the strokes of the burin, just as they
do in the brush-work of the picture-painter. It may
be said, indeed, that the same fundamental rule applied
whether the field of the decoration was silk, paper,
or metal : the artist's tool, be it brush or burin, had
to perform its task by one effort. There must be no
appearance of subsequent deepening, or extending, or
re-cutting, or finishing. Kata-kiri-bori by a great ex-
pert is a delight. One is lost in astonishment at the
nervous yet perfectly regulated force and the unerring
fidelity of every trace of the chisel.

Low-relief chiselling does not easily lend itself to
the production of striking effects, but the skill ex-
hibited by many Japanese experts in this kind of
work was even more remarkable than that of its
great Italian master Donatello, and when combined
with kata-kiri chiselling it gave exquisite pictures.
Another variety much affected by artists of the seven-

242

SWORD -FURNITURE

teenth century and subsequent eras was called shlshi-
ai-bori, or niku-ai-bori. In this the surface of the
design was not raised above the general plane of the
field, but an effect of projection was obtained by
recessing the whole space immediately surrounding
the design or by enclosing the latter in a scarped
frame. Again, in many sword-guards the design was
modelled on both faces so as to be a complete sculp-
ture. This fashion was always accompanied by
chiselling "a jour (sukasfu-bon\9 so that the sculp-
tured portions stood out in their entirety. All fully
modelled work, whether for guards, menuki, or other
purposes, was called maru-bori (round carving).

Inlaying with gold or silver was among the early
forms of decoration. There were two principal
kinds of inlaying : the first called hon-zogan * (true
inlaying) ; the second nunome-zogan (linen-mesh inlay-
ing. As to the former, the Japanese method did not
differ from that seen in the beautiful iron censers
and vases inlaid with gold which the Chinese pro-
duced with notable success from the Shun-tieh era
(1426—1436). In the surface of the metal the
workman cut grooves wider at the base than at the
top, and then hammered into them gold or silver
wire. Such a process presents no remarkable feat-
ures, except that it has been carried by Japanese ex-
perts to an extraordinary degree of elaboration. The
nunome-zogan is much more interesting. Suppose, for
example, that the artist desires to produce an inlaid
diaper. His first business is to chisel the surface in
lines forming the basic pattern of the design. Thus,
for a diamond petal diaper the chisel is carried across
the face of the metal horizontally, tracing a number

1 See Appendix, note 35.

243

JAPAN

of parallel bands, divided at fixed intervals by ribs,
which are obtained by merely straightening the chisel
and striking it a heavy blow. The same process is
then repeated in another direction, so that the new
bands cross the old at an angle adapted to the nature
of the design. Several independent chisellings may
be necessary before the lines of the diaper emerge
clearly, but throughout the whole operation no meas-
urement of any kind is taken : the artist is guided
entirely by his eye, though the slightest failure to
estimate the dimensions correctly, or the slightest
deviation of hand or chisel would at once destroy the
work. The metal is then heated, not to redness, but
sufficiently to develop a certain degree of softness,
and the workman, taking a very thin sheet of gold,
hammers portions of it into the salient points of the
design, thus clearly marking out the spaces. In
ordinary cases this is the sixth process. The seventh
is to hammer gold into the outlines of the diaper ;
the eighth, to hammer it into the pattern filling the
spaces between the lines, and the ninth and tenth to
complete the details of the pattern. Of course the
more intricate the design the more numerous the
processes. The expert uses magnifying-glasses, but is
said to depend more on the delicacy of his own sense
of touch than on the power of the glasses. It is
scarcely possible to imagine a higher effort of hand
and eye than this nunome-zogan displays, for while
intricacy and elaborateness are carried to the very
extreme, absolutely mechanical accuracy is obtained.
Sometimes into the same design gold enters in three
different hues, obtained by varying the alloy.

A third kind of inlaying, peculiar to Japan, is sumi-
zogan (ink inlaying), so called because the inlaid

244

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

design gives the impression of having been painted
with Indian ink beneath the transparent surface of
the metal. The difference between this process and
ordinary inlaying is that for sumi-zogan the design to
be inlaid is fully chiselled out of an independent
block of metal, with sides sloping so as to be broader
at the base than at the top. The object which is to re-
ceive the decoration is then channelled in dimensions
corresponding with those of the design-block, and the
latter having been fixed in the channel, the surface
is ground and polished until absolute intimacy seems
to be obtained between the inlaid design and the metal
forming its field. Very beautiful effects are thus pro-
duced, for the design seems to have grown up to the
surface of the metal field rather than to have been
planted in it. Shibuichi inlaid with shakudo used to
be the commonest combination of metals in this class
of decoration, and the objects usually depicted were
bamboos, crows, wild-fowl under the moon, peony
sprays, and so forth.

It remains to refer to a variety of decoration spe-
cially affected by the early experts and subsequently
carried to a high degree of excellence, namely,
mokume-ji, or wood-grained ground. The process in
this case is to take a thin plate of iron — if iron is to
be treated — and beat into it another plate of similar
metal, so that the two, though welded together, re-
tain their separate forms. The mass, while still hot,
is coated with hena-tsuchi (a kind of gray clay) and
rolled in straw ash, in which state it is roasted over
a charcoal fire raised to glowing heat with the bel-
lows. The clay having been removed, another plate
of metal is beaten in, and the same process is re-
peated.

245

JAPAN

This is done several times, the number depending
on the quality of graining that the expert desires to
produce. The manifold plate is then heavily punched
from one side so that the opposite face protrudes in
broken blisters, which are then hammered down until
each becomes a centre of wave propagation. In fine
work the apex of the blister is ground off before the
final hammering. It will be evident that the wood-
graining is obtained on one face of the metal only by
this process. Hence, when there is question of a
sword-guard, two plates have to be separately prepared,
and afterwards welded together, back to back. Iron
was used exclusively for work of this kind down to
the sixteenth century, but various metals began to be
thenceforth combined. Perhaps the choicest variety
is gold graining in a shakudo field. By repeated ham-
mering and polishing the expert obtains such control
of the wood-grain pattern that its sinuosities and
eddies seem to have developed symmetry without
losing anything of their fantastic grace. Another
method of producing mokumeji was to take the plate, —
composed of various lamina? as described above, — set
it on its edge and hammer it so that it spread in a
direction perpendicular to its original face. The new
plate was then fixed on a different edge and once
more hammered flat. By these devices graining with
elongated curves was produced. Sometimes the ex-
pert, having welded together the several sheets of
metal, fixed the plate on edge at an angle more or
less acute, and beat it out by a series of blows which
had the effect of peeling the surface and re-distribut-
ing it in a kind of wave diaper. Such work demanded
much skill and care. The rings and caps of hilts
were often decorated in the mokume style. In these

246

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

cases the plate of grained metal was bent to the
required shape and veneered to a base of thicker
metal. The metal-workers of Nagoya, from the
middle of the eighteenth century, produced excellent
mokume grounds. Their favourite plan was to weld
four or five lamina? of different metals — iron, sbakudo,
copper, sbibuichi, silver and sometimes gold — into a
sheet. The corners of the latter were then cut off,
and the plate, having been reheated, was placed verti-
cally on each of the four sections in succession, and
beaten flat by strokes delivered from the opposite
section. These Nagoya experts were also successful
with a special kind of mokume known as taf?ia-mokume.
The different metals, having been reduced to spheri-
cal form, are loaded like bullets into an iron cylinder,
which is brought to a red heat, placed vertically on
the anvil and hammered into a plate. In this kind
of mokume the contours of the graining take a circular
form.

One other variety of decoration has to be mentioned.
It is called guri-bori, and its model is taken from the
well-known tsui-shiu (or tsui-koku) lacquer, which
shows a formal diaper cut deeply into several coats of
superposed lacquer, the channels being narrower below
than above, so that the slope of their sides enables the
various strata of the lacquer coats to be clearly seen.
To produce this effect in metal, alternating plates of
two metals, or perhaps three, were welded together,
and when they had been shaped into the form of the
projected object, the design was deeply chiselled, the
channels ultimately presenting horizontally streaked
sides. The guri-bori exhibits technical skill only, but
it is worth noting that although in nearly all the
processes of decorative metal work modern Japanese

247

JAPAN

experts are at least as skilled as their predecessors,
they fail to produce this particular kind successfully.
The experts of former times seem to have possessed
some secret for welding together their sheets of
metal so that each sheet preserved its individuality
though intimately joined to its companions above
and below. Experts of the present day are compelled
to resort to solder, and it is evident that to lay solder
in an absolutely even coat over the surface of a metal
plate is almost impossible. Somewhere there is a
break of continuity, and a flaw results when the pile
of plates is channelled.

248

Chapter VII

SCULPTURE ON SWORD-FURNITURE

(Continued)

IT is certainly a close approximation to the truth
to say that before the time of Yujo, the first of
the Goto masters, — that is to say, before the
year 1469, when he began to develop the style
for which he afterwards became so famous, — chisel-
ling in relief was not applied to the decoration of
sword-ornaments in such a manner as to command
public admiration. Some investigators carry the
statement still farther : they allege that Goto Yujo
actually invented relief carving. Possibly the asser-
tion is true if it is understood in the sense of relief
without the aid of the repousse process. Decoration
in relief had been applied to armour by the Miyochin
masters for certainly three centuries, and perhaps four,
before Yujo's era. But lightness being of prime
importance in the case of armour, the artist naturally
had recourse to the repousse method for the raised
parts of the decorative design, and though he used
his chisel for finishing off the work, he never
attempted to cut the design out of the solid metal.
It was left to Goto Yujo to develop the potentialities
of that method. An element of confusion has been
introduced into this chapter of history by writers
who represent the celebrated Kaneiye as having
chiselled sword-guards with designs in relief before
the time of Hujo. M. Louis Gonse, for example,

249

JAPAN

says that Kaneiye worked at the close of the four-
teenth century, and describes guards by him which
show that chiselling in relief was then practised.
Kaneiye certainly did employ the method of relief
chiselling in manufacturing guards. He worked,
however, not at the end of the fourteenth century,
but at the beginning of the sixteenth. There is,
indeed, a little uncertainty about his date. Some
records call him a pupil of Nobuiye, which would
place him about the year 1520 ; others assign him to
a slightly earlier epoch. At all events Goto Yujo had
been working for at least twenty or thirty years be-
fore Kaneiye's time, and the true historical relation
in which the two men stand to each other is that
Yujo invented relief chiselling and Kaneiye was the
first to apply it to sword-guards.

For Goto Yujo was not a guard-maker. He never
chiselled a guard, but devoted his attention solely to
the smaller mounts, namely, the menuki, the kogai,
and the kozuka. It has been stated by European
writers that from the artistic stand-point the guard is
the most important part of the sword's furniture.
That view would not be admitted by any Japanese
connoisseur. In Japan, from the time when glyptic
artists began to occupy themselves with the decora-
tion of sword-mounts, a clear distinction was always
drawn between the essential and the ornamental parts.
The former comprised the guard, the ring, and the
crown (fuchi and kashira) of the hilt ; the latter, the
menuki, the kogai, and the kozuka. Until the seven-
teenth century the three last were known as the kit-
su-dokoro (three parts), and though the distinction
ceased to be rigid in later times, it was carefully
observed by the early Goto masters as well as by their

250

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

contemporaries, and every connoisseur knows that on
the mitsu-dokoro are to be found the most delicate
workmanship and the most elaborate decorative effects
in the whole range of Japanese metal work. The
guard has special attractions which cannot be im-
parted to such comparatively petty objects as the
kogai or the kozuka, but it is not to the guard alone
or chiefly that the student must look for the history
of this branch of Japanese art.

Goto Yujo's skill was expended almost solely on
the menuki and the Kogai. So far as concerns the
menuki, he cannot be credited with much originality.
During certainly two, and probably seven, centuries
before his time, the menuki had received attention at
the hands of glyptic experts, and had been variously
decorated according to the fancy of the swordsman
or the genius of the artist. Yujo merely brought to
the chiselling of these little objects a new quality of
skill, and to the designing of their forms, in his later
years, a new wealth of fancy derived from the
co-operation of the renowned pictorial artist Kano
Masanobu. Besides, although the beauty of the me-
nuki was incalculably increased by Yujo, he made no
radical change in the method of chiselling it. In
his hands it remained what it had been in the hands
of his predecessors, either repousse work with fine
surface chiselling, or, in rare cases, a solid carving.
It has been argued that since the kozuka and the
Kogai had a place in the scabbard of the waki-zashi
for at least two centuries before Goto's time, and
since such unrivalled armourers as the Miybchin no
yudai (the Ten Miyochin generations) as well as two
of the Six Giyoshi, were his predecessors, the orna-
mentation of these portions of the sword-furniture

251

JAPAN

must have occupied the hands of experts prior to the
fifteenth century. Critics holding that view would
place Yujo at the apex of an art movement rather
than regard him as its originator, and would derive
his great reputation from his excellence rather than
from his originality. It must be admitted that such
a theory is not inconsistent with facts which con-
front the student in other developments of Japanese
art. However, the sum of accessible knowledge
seems to be that never until Yujo began to work did
the art of chiselling in relief become a really ad-
mirable accomplishment. Concerning the question
whether Yujo was a great expert, the answer given
by many foreign connoisseurs is negative. While
granting that he stood at the head of a school, they
allege that it was the classical school ; in other
words, a school which did not conceive the possibil-
ity, or perhaps, admit the propriety, of aiming at such
qualities as softness, delicacy, and pictorial ideality in
the decoration of metallic surfaces, especially when
the object to be decorated formed part of a weapon
of war. Some even go so far as to assert that the
severe formality and narrow range of the early Goto
experts are as far removed from the graceful tender-
ness and wide repertoire of the eighteenth-century
artists — the Hamano and the Ishiguro, for example
— as are the three chisels of Ichikawa Hirosuke
from the three hundred of Kashiwaya Nagatsune.1
Now it is quite true that Yujo conceived the dragon
and the Dog of Fo (sbisbi\ to be the most appropri-
ate objects for representation on arms and armour.
The dragon pre-eminently occupied his attention.
He devoted infinite care to the modelling of every

1 See Appendix, note 36.

252

SWORD-FURNITURE

part of the monster, and elaborated for himself exact
rules as to the shape and dimensions of the claws, the
horns, the scales, the teeth, the ears, and the arma-
ture. There are points here which probably lie
beyond the appreciation of a foreign connoisseur, who
regards the dragon as on the whole an ugly reptile,
and can scarcely accept it as an agreeable element of
any decorative scheme. But to a Japanese artist or
lover of art the dragon, with its fierce vitality and
mysterious suggestions, is a creature of the highest
interest. The painter and the sculptor alike under-
stood the immense difficulty of depicting or chiselling
it so that it should have the semblance of ferocious
vigour and implacable malignity, not the appearance
of a limp, fantastic worm. All the Goto masters
made a close study of the dragon. They showed it
in various shapes and positions, and in chiselling it
they acquired certain mannerisms from which skilled
connoisseurs in later ages constructed an alphabet of
identification. Thus, at the beginning of the eigh-
teenth century, there was published a two-volume
book (Kinko Kantei Hiketsu, or the secrets of judging
works in gold), containing minute analyses of what
are known as the hiden (secret formulas) of the first
fifteen Goto masters. It is a compilation of interest,
as showing the lovingly appreciative attention be-
stowed upon such objects by Japanese connoisseurs.
But almost everything is based upon the dragon, and
certainly an exceptional instinct is required for under-
taking a careful study of that fabulous and repellent
monster, from the contours of his curves and the
angles of his claws to the length of his antennas, the
set of his ears, and the section of his horns. If an
estimate of the Goto family's work were derived from

JAPAN

the contents of that brochure alone, it would be
necessary to endorse the verdict which accuses them
of classical severity and narrow range of motive.
But there is other and more trustworthy evidence —
the Manpo Zensho (complete treatise on all precious
things), published in 1 7 1 1 , as well as a manuscript
handed down through six generations of a family
whose successive representatives were professional
connoisseurs of sword-blades and sword-furniture. It
will be worth while to quote from these compilations
some of the information furnished about the works
of the first six Goto masters, because not only is an
insight thus obtained into Japanese views about these
products of art, but also much is learned about the
decorative motives chosen by these six experts be-
tween the years 1460 and 1631: —

1. Among authenticated specimens of the first six Goto
masters, there are not any that have a copper ground with
trees, reeds, shrubs, or flowers chiselled in relief!

2. Specimens decorated with various kinds of Crustacea,
or with landscapes in which living creatures do not appear,
are considered of inferior quality. The same remark applies
to kogai and menuki chiselled with scattered-leaf designs
only.

3. Each stroke of the chisel must be clean and even,
showing everywhere strength and directness.

4. With regard to the objects depicted, it is essential to
observe that the faces of human beings must faithfully reflect
the sentiments supposed to animate them. Under painful
circumstances the faces portrayed by the Goto masters are
always distressed ; in joyful conditions, they are merry.
Such is seldom the case in the works of the carvers of the
branch houses {Waki-bori), or of men that make a com-
merce of their art (Machi-bori, or street-carvers, and Inari-
boriy a term of uncertain origin). The Goto oxen are
always sleek and fairly proportioned, not the gaunt, bony ani-

254

S WO R D-F U R N I T U RE

mals of lesser experts. Their horses are full-girthed, strong,
and spirited. Their crows, even the blackest, have a peculiar
light-hued mark at the stem of the feathers, and their white
herons a gold point under the eye. The chiselling of the
dragons' faces constitutes a special distinction, and the same
remark applies to the Kara-shishi (Dog of Fo). Water
from which a dragon emerges is always rough and has many
wave-crests, but water above which the ama-ryo flies has few
crests ; and water over which the moon shines is calm, with
only occasional ripples. The carp also springs from quiet
water, and where flower-rafts are shown floating on a lake or
river, the whole scene, from the placid water to the softly
contoured rocks, is restful and smiling. Association of
blossom-boats with beetling cliffs, angry waves, and swirling
currents, is the false conception of a bad artist. Flowers
and shrubs, however, do not appear much on the works of
the Goto masters, or, if they appear, belong to a compara-
tively low grade of chiselling. Still there is a fine specimen
of Yujo's work that forms an exception to this rule. It is
a Kogai of shakudo, having a single chrysanthemum carved
in relief, and a tanzaku (tablet) on which the following coup-
let is inlaid with gold : —

" Until the dew flake,
Beading this blossom's gold,
Swells to a broad lake,
Age after age untold
Joy to joy manifold
Add for thy sweet sake."

Other exceptions are the following specimens, which, if the
great masters' works be divided in three classes with three
grades in each class, must stand in the first grade of the sec-
ond class, (i) A kogai by Yujo, on which the design is a
rain-pipe with a wistaria clasping it. The chiselling is in
high relief, the creeper and the pipe are plated with gold,
and the other parts are in shakudo. (2) A kozuka of shakudo
by Yujo, having for design a tuft of susuki (Eularia Japonica)
in silver and gold under a shibuicbi moon. The scene
represents the Moor of Musashi. (3) A kogai of shakudo by

JAPAN

Yujo, on which the design is a bamboo water-pipe, having
beside it eight Kiri (Paulownia) blossoms within a circle.

An idea of the extreme delicacy of Yujo's chiselling may be
formed from a celebrated work of his, a peach-kernel upon
which he carved the twenty-one Shrines of Sanno, standing
among trees peopled by a multitude of monkeys.

A favourite form of menuki chiselled by the Goto masters
was a dragon coiled round a two-edged sword (called kuri-
kara-ryu). In good specimens of these menuki the sword
passes perfectly straight through the coils of the dragon,
and the blade flashes. The slightest deviation from the
straight line is a blemish.

Among authenticated specimens of the first six
Goto masters' works the following may be men-
tioned : —

1. A kogai, kozuka, and a pair of menukiy en strife, by Yujo.
Each of the menuki is a group of five dragons ; on the kozuka
and kogai ten dragons each are chiselled. This is a splendid
work.

2. A pair of menuki, the design being Tawara Toda rid-
ing on a dragon to meet the giant centipede, which is seen
emerging from a mountain.

3. A kogai y kozuka and pair of menuki by Yujo, decorated
with thirty shishi, five on each of the menuki, and ten each
on the kozuka and kogai. A splendid work.

4. A kogai having a spray of peony chiselled in relief and
a cat playing with a butterfly.

5. Menuki by Yujo ; a group of crows.

6. A kogai y having for design a hen keeping her chicks
warm under snow-laden bamboos.

7. A kogai , having a cock-fight chiselled in relief.

8. A kozuka ; the design a hawk striking a pheasant, and
a hunter carrying a game-bag. The menuki, en suite, are in
the form of game-bags containing pheasants.

9. Menuki in the form of an eagle swooping on a
monkey.

10. A kogai having five wild geese chiselled on it.

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S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

11. A kogai, having for design a sea-scape (Akogi-no-ura),
with a fishing-boat in the foreground, the fisherman throw-
ing a net.

12. A kogai, having for design the scene in the Gem-pei
wars, where Kumagaye flies from Atsumori.

13. A kozuka with the Funa-Benkei design (/. e. the scene
where, Yoshitsune's boat being overtaken by a storm during
his flight from Yoritomo's emissaries, Benkei reads a verse
from a sutra to still the waves and exorcise the ghost of Taira
no Tomomori, which hovers over the water.)

14. Menuki in the form of Taiko-bo seated on a rock and
fishing with a straight hook.

15. A kozuka, having the design of a wrestling-match
between Daikoku and Hotei, with Yebisu acting as umpire
and Fukurokujin looking on ; all have laughing faces.

1 6. Kogai and menuki en suite ; the Kogai having for design
a mermaid, with human face and the body of a fish ; the
menuki being in the form of the dragon deity and an
angel.

17. A kozuka, by Yujo ; the design, Shoki (the demon-
slayer) riding on a tiger, pursuing with drawn sword the
imps of pestilence (yakujin). A splendid work.

1 8. A Kogai, with Daruma crossing the sea on a rush-leaf
(ashi-no-ha}.

19. A kogai and menuki en suite. On the Kogai is chiselled
the celebrated priest Hijiri. He has taken off his wallet and
is sitting on a rock tying his sandal. The menuki show him
in pursuit of the demon of Adachi-ga-hara.

20. A kozuka with Fukki (prehistoric Chinese Emperor)
and Shinno (the first physician) chiselled in relief. Fukki
has a girdle of leaves, and Shinno is tasting an herb.

21. A kogai showing the omkizashi of the courtesan Tora,
who being summoned to a feast by the great Wada Yoshi-
mori, and desired to hand the wine-cup to the person she
deemed most honourable, gave it to Jinro, one of the Soga
brothers, then a humble ronin (samurai out of service).

22. A kozuka, showing the capture of Tosabo (Yoshit-
sune's would-be assassin) by Benkei. The latter has leaped
upon Tosabo's horse from behind, and is in the act of draw-
ing Tosabo's sword to kill him with his own weapon.

VOL. vil. — 17 2C7

JAPAN

23. Menuki in the form of Idaten pursuing Sokushiki, who
has stolen some Buddhist relics.

24. Menuki ; one representing Watanabe no Tsuna in full
armour, drawing his sword as the demon seizes his helmet ;
the other, a battle-steed without a saddle.

25. Kogaiy by Yujo, on which is chiselled a night view of
the celebrated landscape Shojo in wet weather. Two figures
are seen, both wearing straw rain-coats. The foremost, a
young man, carries a torch ; the other, an old man, follows.
A splendid work.

26. Menuki, one representing the fabulous Nuye (a mon-
ster with the head of a monkey, the body of a tiger, and the
tail of a serpent) ; the other, Yorimasa, with bow and arrow.

27. Menukiy by Yujo ; the Sambaso — a dancing figure
in high relief; the design on the surcoat, sprays of Paulow-
nai in relief to represent embroidery ; the pattern on
the skirt, pines and cranes, inlaid to represent dying. A
very fine work.

28. Kogaiy having the koshin design (the three sacred mon-
keys). Yujo's second-class work.

29. A kogai ; the design, three silver trout strung on a
spray of willow.

30. Menuki ', a spider catching a bee.

3 1 . Kozuka, the genji-guruma : a cart drawn by an ox and
laden with a basket of convolvulus flowers.

32. Kozuka, a fisherman drawing up the image of Yaku-
shi in his net.

33. Menuki , by Yujo; the story of Anchin and Kiyo-
hime, represented by a bronze bell with a gold dragon
coiled round it. A splendid work.

Many other specimens are mentioned, — the Dragon
King riding on a carp ; a tenniu reading a sutra ;
fishing with cormorants at Nagara ; Asaina and the
demon trying their strength ; fishing by flash-light ;
a child catching a crab ; Fukurokuju feeding his
crane; Kengiu and Shokujo ; Choryo and Sekiko ;
No dancers ; long-armed apes clutching at the moon's
reflection ; lobsters ; insects of various kinds ; a rat

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S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

trapped by a clam ; cats catching rats ; rats eating
mochi ; puppy dogs playing with empty shells or hold-
ing fans in their teeth ; a child setting a dog at a
blind man ; bulls fighting ; oxen ploughing ; flower-
rafts floating down rivers ; carp leaping up water-
falls ; various scenes from the twenty-four acts of
filial piety, and so on. In short, these records show
that the first six Goto masters had a very large reper-
toire of subjects, and that it is altogether a mistake to
speak of their productions as severely classical, or of
their range of decorative motives as limited. They
differed, of course, in the quality of their work, the
third representative, Joshiu, being notably the coarsest
and roughest chiseller among them. It is a theory
implicitly believed in Japan that an artist's moral
nature is reflected in his productions. Joshiu was a
big, stalwart soldier. He fell in battle, the end he
had always desired, and there is certainly something
of the bluff" man-at-arms in his style of carving.
His most elaborate effort is said to have been a pair
of menuki in the form of a procession of golden ants
carrying silver eggs. But he preferred fierce dragons
and angry shlshi. His son Kwojo, the fourth repre-
sentative, who worked from 1550 to 1620, is distin-
guished for precisely the quality which his father
lacked, extreme accuracy of detail and delicacy of
style. Up to Kwojo's time, that is to say, during the
era of the first three Goto masters, the iroye (literally,
colour-picture) process, or " picking out " with metal
different from that of the general design, was some-
what clumsy. The preparation of efficient solder not
being understood, the expert had to pin each tiny
plate of gold, silver, or copper in its place. He
accomplished this with such dexterity that the rivets

259

JAPAN

were not visible, but really delicate work could not be
done. In Kwojo's time a solder was discovered so
good that a piece of metal fixed with it could be
afterwards chiselled in loco. The use of this ro (liter-
ally, wax), as the Japanese called it, made an immense
difference in the quality of detail chiselling, and the
uttori iroye (riveted plating) of the first Goto experts
was finally abandoned.

It is unnecessary to enter into any further analysis
of the Goto masters' work. What has been said
above of the first six generations applies to the meth-
ods of all their successors. The influence exercised by
the family and its branches in this particular sphere
of Japanese art was enormous. Until the time of
Kwojo and Tokujo sword-mounts were valued solely
for their uses : the idea of collecting and treasuring
them as objects of art does not appear to have occurred
to any dilettante. But when the reign of peace
inaugurated by the Tokugawa regents gave people
leisure to think of the sword's furniture as much
as of its blade, it began to be the fashion to make
collections of the beautiful specimens of sculpture in
metal, then produced in large quantities in the capitals
of many of the fifes ; and from that era until the pres-
ent, it was always considered that the basis of every
good collection must be a series representing the
works of the first fourteen Goto experts, from Yujo
to Keijo. Any careful student of the subject who
has had an opportunity of examining the splendid
works of other great masters, will be disposed to rebel
against the factitious prominence thus assigned to the
productions of the Goto, — the iye-bori, or " carvings
of the family/' as they are called. Yet the Japanese
verdict is probably correct, for the foundation of this

260

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

branch of art is undoubtedly relief-chiselling, and
whether the Goto masters originated that style or
merely raised it from a condition of tentative inferior-
ity to a state of the highest perfection, the credit
belongs to them of having demonstrated its capabilities,
and thus opened to Japanese sculptors a path leading
to results absolutely unrivalled in the corresponding
work of other nations. It is worth while to note
here that at the beginning of the present century a
kbgaly a kozuka or a pair of menuki authenticated as
fine specimens of an early Goto master, commanded
a price of from ^8 to ^40.

Recapitulating the art relations of the Goto's work,
the broad facts are that they introduced the style of
carving in relief without the aid of repousse ; that they
invented, or, at all events, raised to an admirable grade,
the nanako grounds which form such beautiful fields
for metal sculpture of every kind; that they devised
the method of " picking out," or plating with vari-
ous metals in order to produce pictorial effects ; and
that they carried the process of gold inlaying to a
point of delicacy far beyond the conception of previ-
ous artists. It is curious that this last development
should stand chiefly to the credit of the third repre-
sentative, Joshiu, otherwise a comparatively rough
expert.

Not until the time of Tokujo, the fifth of the Goto
masters, who worked from 1561 to 1631, is there
any evidence that guards or fuchi-gashira were among
the productions of the family, and, on the whole,
their work in that particular line may be dismissed as
inappreciable. In fact, guard-making remained for a
long time the special business of the armourer, and
the method of decoration adopted was either to impart

261

JAPAN

to the outline of the guard some quaint shape, or to
weld it in such a manner that the surface presented the
appearance of wood graining, or to decorate it with
designs chiselled a jour. As to the first method, noth-
ing need be said : it was a device within the range
of the most ordinary skill. But the wood-grain
(mokume) surface must be classed among the remark-
able achievements of the Japanese armourer. It seems
impossible to determine when this curious tour-de-force
had its origin. The oldest examples of it spoken of
by Japanese connoisseurs are from the hands of Miyo-
chin Munesuke, who worked from 1 1 54 to 1185 A. D.
Munesuke is generally regarded as the founder of the
great Miyochin family of armourers. He was, in
fact, the twentieth representative, the founder hav-
ing been Munemichi, who nourished in the seventh
century. But Munesuke stands so far above all his
predecessors that he justly deserves to be called the
father of Japanese armourers. He is the first of the
yudat, or ten great generations of Miyochin experts,
ending with Muneyasu in 1380. It was he that
forged Yoshitsune's magnificent suit of armour. Many
of his iron guards are fine examples of the mokume-jit
or wood-grain forging which has already been de-
scribed. Munesuke marked these guards Shinto go-
tetsu-ren, or " five-times-forged iron of the sacred
way/' and it may here be added that, in common
with the great experts of his family, the ideographs
used in his inscriptions for guards are of the kind
called kabuto-ji, or " helmet characters ; " that is to
say, the grass script (sosbd) with curled strokes ; an
ornamental style of writing always employed in mark-
ing helmets. From the time of Munesuke down to
the present era the production of wood-grain effects

262

SWORD- FURNITURE

has been among the remarkable achievements of
Japanese workers. The Miyochin master used iron
only. As to guards having designs chiselled a jour
(sukashi-bori}, it is generally believed that up to the
close of the fifteenth century they were more or less
roughly executed. Some connoisseurs claim that
Miyochin Nobuiye, who worked during the early part
of the sixteenth century, was the first to carry this
method of decoration to a point of really high excel-
lence. Nobuiye was third of the Nochi no San-saku,
or "Three Later Masters," of the Miyochin family,
and it is scarcely credible that his two immediate pre-
decessors, Yoshimichi (1530) and Takayoshi (1490),
the other two of the renowned trio, who worked
during the epoch when the Goto family's skill had
given new importance to the decoration of sword-
mounts, can have failed to produce fine guards in the
sukashi style. Indeed many delicately chiselled and
artistically conceived guards exist in Japan which
are attributed, with apparent reason, to makers of
earlier eras than Nobuiye's. But the question need
not be discussed here. Nobuiye himself did not
generally approve of weakening a guard by pierced
carving of such an elaborate character as was subse-
quently adopted, nor must his methods be inferred
from the numerous specimens bearing his name, since,
in the first place, many of them are forgeries by
makers of later epochs, and, in the second, two other
experts of the same name — one of Aki, the other of
Kishiu — manufactured guards some of which have
been confounded with the work of the Miyochin
master. In Nobuiye's finest guards there are found
two styles : first, line engraving combined with
chiselling in very low relief; and secondly, decoration

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JAPAN

a jour. Guards of the former class have the surface
covered with an engraved floral scroll (karakusa\
among which are leaves and blossoms (generally of the
Paulownia or the evening gourd) in slight relief.
These works plainly show the influence which the
Goto family's methods had already exercised upon the
fashion of the time. In the guards with pierced
decoration, the commonest designs are a network
pattern (ami-gata), or a kikko diaper (tortoise-shell
tessellation), and occasionally verses of poetry occur,
the ideographs cut right through the metal so accu-
rately and delicately that each character seems to be
written by a skilled penman with white ink on the
russet patina of the iron. Among specimens of No-
buiye's guards preserved in Japan, the sacrifice of
solidity to decorative design is carried farthest in one
which has in the centre a torii (sacred bird-perch)
within a frame of mokko-gata (four-arched outline).
The torli alone is solid, all the remaining space within
the frame being cut out. Another remarkable guard
by the same maker, which the inscription shows to
have been forged for the notorious Anayama, has the
surface covered with deep pitting, the depressions and
elevations alternating on the two faces. All the
guards of the Miyochin experts, from Munesuke
to Nobuiye, are slightly rough to the touch, though
they present the appearance of finely finished work.
This peculiarity — called by the Japanese moyashi, or
fermentation — is the result of the patina-producing
process. It need scarcely be said that the patina was
a point of the greatest importance. The most prized
variety had the colour of the azuki bean, or dark
mahogany.

The chisellers of guards with decoration a jour

264

IVORY INRO.

Reduced in size about one half.

SWORD- FURNITURE

showed a fertile fancy in choosing and inventing de-
signs. Naturally their work was not uniformly good.
The great majority of the inferior samurai and all the
common foot-soldiers (ashigaru) had to be content
with weapons on which little decorative labour had
been expended. But with the nobles and the officers
of rank the case was different. At their order the
great armourers, and subsequently the chisellers of
sword-mounts, worked with ever-increasing rivalry to
produce fine guards which, while presenting an ap-
pearance of lightness and delicacy, nevertheless pos-
sessed all the elements of strength and durability
necessary in a soldier's weapons. Many of these
guards are interesting and valuable for the sake of the
decorative ability and extraordinary technical skill that
they display ; but they belong, of course, to a class
of artistic workmanship distinct from that of the sur-
face-chiselled sword-mounts of later times. It may
be well here to dismiss, once for all, a theory some-
times advanced by writers in Europe that many of
the elaborate guards of the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries were of cast iron. That cast-iron guards
had no existence cannot be affirmed ; they may
sometimes have been made for weapons of the most
inferior description. But the Japanese themselves
deny that cast iron was ever regarded as a suitable
material for a sword-guard, its liability to fracture
being a fatal objection. The connoisseur — and every
samurai was something of a connoisseur in matters
concerning his sword — attached more importance to
the tempering of the metal than to the fashion of the
ornamental chiselling, and in every record of great
armourers skill in forging iron heads the list of their
achievements. There is a story told of a celebrated

265

JAPAN

swordsman of Owari, Yagiu by name, who in the
sixteenth century had fifty fine sword-guards made by
the best experts of the time. He placed all the guards
in a mortar, pounded them with a heavy pestle, and
used only those that survived the ordeal. Subsequently
Yagiu's guards came to be the fashion, and were pre-
ferred to much finer work which had not undergone
the same test. There is, however, an explanation of
the cast-iron theory advanced by European writers.
Many of the guards sold to foreign collectors in re-
cent times have been of cast iron, made expressly
for the unwary curio-hunter. From these a decep-
tive inference has been drawn as to the nature of the
genuine old work.1

In describing briefly the progress of the art from
the time of its early prosperity until the present day,
the most convenient method will be to follow the
method of division into centuries.

SIXTEENTH CENTURY

Two eminently great names of this century are
Nobuiye (Miyochin) and Kaneiye, but enough has
already been said about their work. It may be added
here, however, that although the great Kaneiye cer-
tainly flourished at the close of the fifteenth and the
beginning of the sixteenth century, Japanese tradi-
tions refer to an earlier expert of the same name
whom they distinguish as O-shodai Kaneiye, or the
" remote first-generation Kaneiye." Nothing accu-
rate is known about him, and the few specimens
attributed to him are of such inferior quality that no
interest attaches to their history.

1 See Appendix, note 37.

266

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

Concerning the Miyochin family, it is to be noted
that they did not contribute much to the decora-
tion of sword-furniture. There were essentially
armourers, though they produced also many objects
which do not belong to the category of arms or
armour, — for example, censers, alcove-ornaments,
metal mountings for palanquins, and so forth. The
list of Miyochin masters who worked in the sixteenth
century includes many names, — Katsumasa, Katsuiye,
Nobuyoshi, Nobusada, Muneaki, Kunishige, Mune-
haru, Munenori, Munehisa, etc., — but as makers
of sword-mounts they may be dismissed with the
remark that they confined themselves to chiselling
iron guards with pierced decoration or with wood-
grained surface. The name of one, Miyochin Fusa-
yoshi, has been handed down to posterity on account
of his skill in cutting chrysanthemums a jour ; and
lyefusa, a pupil of Nobuiye, became celebrated for
similar work.

In nearly all cases where an artist achieved success as
a worker in metals, a number of students flocked to his
workshop, and these, together with his own sons and
descendants, founded a line of experts perpetuating
the family's name and its style from generation to
generation. The Goto and Miyochin houses are
conspicuous examples, but scores of other families
swell the list. Several had their origin, and attained
special fame, in the sixteenth century. Reference
has already been made to the Umetada family, whose
representative, Shigeyoshi, became famous at the end
of the fourteenth century, working for the Ashikaga
Shogun, Yoshimitsu. A much more highly skilled
artist of the same house — also called Shigeyoshi (art
name, Miyojit) — chiselled guards with decoration

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JAPAN

£ jour in the middle of the sixteenth century, thus
bringing the Umetada family into greater repute
than ever. There was a third Shigeyoshi (art name,
Meishiri), who, though he flourished in the seven-
teenth century (1630), may be mentioned here for the
sake of distinctness. This last, working for the Court
in Yedo, received the honorary title of Ho-kyoy and
added chiselling in relief to the £ jour decoration
which alone had been practised by his predecessors.
Thus it may be said that the Umetada family had
three epochs, — its debut upon the art stage at the be-
ginning of the eleventh century when its then noble
representative, Tachibana no Munechika, became
the renowned swordsmith known through all time as
Sanjo rid Kokaji ; its earliest remarkable connection
with guard-chiselling in the days of the first Shige-
yoshi (1400); and its attainment of high rank in that
line when (1630) the third Shigeyoshi (Meishiri)
worked for the second Tokugawa Shogun. This
somewhat tedious analysis is made because great con-
fusion has crept into the writings of European con-
noisseurs in the matter of the Umetada family. The
reader will understand that the family did not cease
to produce skilled experts after the third Shigeyoshi,
but it is impossible to find space here for detailed
reference except in the case of great celebrities.

The Muneta family, which gave to Japan another
long line of experts, was founded in Kyoto in 1520
by Matazayemon. At first the Muneta masters con-
fined themselves to working in silver, but Matabei
(1560), grandson of Matazayemon, having invented
the style of nanako called go-no-me (as already men-
tioned), he and his successors, down to the middle
of the century, are chiefly remembered for their skill

268

SWORD -FURNITURE

in that kind of work. Muneta Naomichi (1660) —
art name, Dochoku — was the first of the family to
attain great distinction for chiselling in high relief
and in the shishi-ai-bori method (recessed carving).
He and his sons, Naoshige and Naomine, worked in
Osaka, and are among the most celebrated experts of
that city.

The Aoki family also came into notice in this cen-
tury. It was founded (1580) by Jubei (art name,
Tetsujin, i.e. worker in iron), who entered the service
of the feudal chief of Higo, and settled at Hasuike
in that province. Jubei is often spoken of as the
successor of Kaneiye, apparently because he resembled
the latter in style and was not much inferior to him
in skill. He also has the credit of introducing brass
into the decorative designs on iron sword-guards.
But the latter specialty is more correctly associated
with the name of Jingo, who worked at Yatsushiro,
in the same province of Higo, in 1630. Jingo's
guards have brass decoration, boldly chiselled in very
high relief. They were always greatly appreciated
in Japan, though their workmanship scarcely seems
to merit that distinction. Jingo-tsuba came to be
the generic term for all guards having brass decorative
designs on an iron ground.

The Soami family was founded at the end of the
fourteenth century by Masanori, but its work did not
attract public attention until the time (1410) of
Takatsune, who lived in Kyoto and chiselled guards
with pierced decoration. Representatives of the
family were working in various parts of the country
in the sixteenth century, but their productions had
not yet become remarkable.

Towards the close of the century Hideyoshi, the

269

JAPAN

Taiko, built at Fushimi, overlooking the beautiful
valley of the Yodo River, a castle of unprecedented
magnificence. The best artistic resources of the time
were devoted to the interior decoration of this
" Palace of Pleasure," as it was called, and a host of
skilled artisans and artists assembled in Fushimi in
connection with the enterprise. Few of the works
executed for the Palace have survived, but the chisel-
ling of the silver mounts on two state palanquins
which stood in the vestibule show that even on such
objects the highest skill of the time was expended.
It is known incidentally that many experts great in
the decoration of sword-mounts worked in Fushimi
during the brief period — some ten years — of its
prosperity, but the name of one only has been trans-
mitted as directly associated with the place. This
artist, Kanaya, evidently belonged to the artisan class,
for his family name is unknown. He attained re-
nown for chiselling landscapes, birds, foliage, and the
long, feathery moorland grasses so much affected by
Japanese painters and sculptors. His work is com-
pared by Japanese connoisseurs to a moon-lit water-
scape seen through an opening in a pine forest.

SEVENTEENTH CENTURY

The seventeenth century was a period of marked
development. For the first time during five hundred
years the country enjoyed almost complete rest from
civil wars, and there sprung up among the various
fiefs keen rivalry in the fields of art and industry.
One of the fiefs (Kaga) must be specially mentioned
in this context. The feudal chief of that province at
the time was Mayeda Toshiiye. When the Taiko

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SWORD -FURNITURE

turned his arms against the celebrated warrior Shibata
Katsuiye, the issue of the combat depended largely
upon the attitude of Mayeda Toshiiye, then a feuda-
tory of only the second rank. Mayeda espoused the
Taik'os cause, and as recompense for his fidelity re-
ceived in fief the whole province of Kaga, thus becom-
ing at once one of the wealthiest and most puissant
feudatories in the Empire, while, at the same time,
the remote and comparatively inaccessible position
of his fief rendered him virtually independent of the
government in Kyoto or Yedo. Not unnaturally,
therefore, when the tide of political fortune began to
set against the Taiko s son, and when Fushimi ceased
to be a centre of prosperity, a number of the artists who
had settled there turned their faces to Kaga. They
were received most hospitably and liberally by Mayeda
Toshiiye. Kanazawa, the chief town of Kaga, be-
came thenceforth one of the principal centres of art
production in Japan, and has retained that distinction
down to the present day. The most renowned of the
families established there by artists emigrating from
Fushimi or Kyot5 were the Kuwamura, the Goto,
the Mizuno, the Koichi, the Nagayoshi, the Kuninaga,
the Yoshishige, the Katsugi, the Tsuji, the Mune-
yoshi, and the Tadahira. To every one of these
houses the Kaga chief granted liberal pensions, vary-
ing in amount from the equivalent of 3,500 yen to
250 yen annually. All the early representatives of the
Kuwamura family were pupils of the Goto masters
and worked in the Goto style, namely, relief chisel-
ling in various metals with addition of gold inlaying.
Moriyoshi, a pupil of Goto Kenzo, was the first re-
corded member of the house, but it attained the sum-
mit of its reputation in the time (1630) of Hiroyoshi,

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JAPAN

who, under his art name of Koko, stands in the fore-
most rank of sword-mount chisellers. The same de-
scription applies to the Mizuno family. Its founder,
Yoshinori, learned his art under Goto Yenjo, and
neither he nor his successors made any departure from
the methods of the Kyoto masters. It may, indeed,
be said that the glyptic movement in Kaga was entirely
permeated by Goto influence, and that the greatest artists
of this school in the seventeenth century were Hiro-
yoshi (Koko), who has just been mentioned ; Kuninaga
(the first, not the second, of the name) ; Yoshishige 1
(1620), a younger brother of Kuninaga's, who, as
well as Kuninaga, had studied under Goto Takuzo ;
and Uji-iye (1630) of the Katsugi family, who had
the official title of Gon-dayu. On the whole, how-
ever, the characteristic feature of the Kaga work may
be said to have been profuse inlaying with gold.
Many Japanese connoisseurs are accustomed to credit
Kuninaga with having been the first to use gold in-
laying in the decoration of sword-furniture. That
is an historical inaccuracy. But it is certain that
Kuninaga's inlaying was so fine as to become pro-
verbial, the term Jirosaku-hori — Jirosaku was Kuni-
naga's personal name — being used to indicate spe-
cially delicate specimens of that nature, to whatever
expert they owed their manufacture. Perhaps it will
be correct to say that groove-inlaying (hon-zbgari),
as distinguished from surface damascening (nuno-me-
zogari), began to be practised with marked success at
the beginning of the seventeenth century, for it ap-
pears that while Kuninaga was winning admiration
for such work in Kaga, Goto Kiyoshi, his contempo-
rary, was becoming equally famous in the same line

1 See Appendix, note 38.

272

S WO R D-FU R N I T U R E

in Yedo. The Nagayoshi family of Kaga, who began
to work when Kuninaga was at the zenith of his
fame, made groove-inlaying a specialty, and devoted
themselves through thirteen successive generations
almost entirely to that branch of the art, so that they
are generally spoken of as the Kaga Zogan-ko (In-
layers of Kaga). It must be noted, further, that
Kuninaga, Goto Kiyoshi, and the Nagayoshi experts
of Kaga were not the only famous inlayers of the
epoch. Shoami Masanobu (1620), an artist of
Kyoto, produced iron guards with gold-inlaid pictures
of the Eight Views of Omi (Lake Biwa), which were
the marvel of his time; and Hosono Masamori, also of
Kyoto, working at a still earlier date, — the end of the
sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth cen-
tury,— showed such skill in hair-line inlaying (kebori-
zogari) that by some authorities he is regarded as the
originator of that kind of work. Masamori would
have been remembered for his chiselling in relief, even
though he had not distinguished himself specially as
a zogan worker. A contemporary of his, Shoami
Nagatsugu, who lived at Hino in Goshiu, was the
first to inlay brass with gold, silver, and shakudo, so
that inlaying of that kind came to be known as
Yoshiro-fu (Yoshiro style), Yoshiro being Nagatsugu's
personal name. The use of brass as a field for gold
or silver damascening does not, when cursorily con-
sidered, suggest fine results. But the soft and tender
effects of the combination are admirable. Altogether
it may be said that the development of inlaying was a
feature of art progress at the beginning of the seven-
teenth century.

The history of this century contains so many inci-
dents of importance that it is difficult to marshal

VOL. vii. — 1 8 277

JAPAN

them in clear sequence. Certainly one of the most
important was the founding of the Yokoya family in
Yedo by Soyo, who worked from 1621 to 1643.
Soyo is supposed to have invented the style of chisel-
ling called kata-kiri, — that is to say, cutting the lines
of a design in channels of varying depth and width,
so as to suggest brush-work rather than chiselling.
It is impossible to say whether Soyo really invented
this style or whether he merely brought it into
public notice by his great skill. At all events, its
extensive practice dates from his time, and it was
unquestionably one of the most potential additions
made to the art in any era. Speaking broadly, incised
chiselling, which had hitherto been mere etching,
became thenceforth painting. The Japanese stand
quite solitary in this work. They alone among the
glyptic artists of the world have carried the element of
directness so thoroughly into the ornamental chiselling
of metallic surfaces that every line is completed by a sin-
gle stroke of the tool, and that each line has its own spe-
cial value in the scale of modelling. Soyo received a
handsome pension in perpetuity from the Yedo Court.
He did not confine himself to kata-kiri work, but carved
in relief also with grand force. His fame is eclipsed,
however, by that of his grandson Somin (1680-1733),
whom many connoisseurs count the greatest chiseller
of metal that Japan ever produced. He scarcely
deserves such unqualified praise, but he was certainly
a grand artist, and in some directions he has never
been surpassed. Beginning life with the position of
chiseller to the Yedo Court and an annual allowance
— hereditary since the time of his grandfather Soyo —
equivalent to about 2,011 yen yearly, he voluntarily
resigned the distinction and its associated emoluments,

274

SWORD-FURNITURE

and devoted himself to machi-bori (literally, street
carving), or working to general order. This step
seems to have been inspired by pure pride of art : he
desired to establish an entirely independent reputation
for himself, and to owe nothing to the reputation of
his family. Like Goto Yujo, who had obtained
designs from the great painter Kano Motonobu,
Somin sought assistance from two -artists famous in
his time and in all time, Tanyu and Hanabusa Itcho.
His reproductions of the drawings of these masters by
the kata-kiri and kebori processes were so admirable
and striking that the public unanimously gave him the
credit of having originated the " engraved pictorial
style " (yefu kebori}, though the conception of such
work undoubtedly came from his grandfather Soyo
and was adopted by his father Sochi. It is difficult
to speak too highly of Somin's chiselling. There is
life in everything that he produced. A spray of
peony carved by him contrasts with similar work by
other artists as a real blossom contrasts with a paper
flower. Accurate examination of his floral work
shows that the style of the petal and leaf carving is
essentially his own, but that his stalks and branches
combine the methods of the Goto and Soyo schools.
Somin often worked in silver, especially in chiselling
kozuka. It may be mentioned here that from the
days of the early Goto masters it became a common
custom to give a backing of pure gold to kozuka of
high quality. Somin's work has always been so
much valued by Japanese connoisseurs that few gen-
uine specimens seem to have passed into foreign hands.
A noble example was lately sold by the principal art
auctioneers in London, but so little did they appreci-
ate it that they grouped it with several ordinary

275

JAPAN

kozuka and sold the whole en bloc ! It is possible that
many English collectors may thus be entertaining
angels unawares.

The celebrated Nara family, which deserves and
has received at least as much honour as the Yokoya,
had its origin in the century under review. " Nara "
is in this case a family name, not the name of a
place. Toshiteru, an expert of Kyoto and a pupil of
the Goto school, was the first metal-chiseller of the
family. He moved to Yedo in 1620, but it was not
until the time of his son Toshimune (art name,
Sofei) that the Nara workers began to be famous.
Their style was then severe and simple, their favourite
designs being crows perched on a withered branch,
mandarin ducks in water, birds beside a stream, and
such things. Toshiharu (art name, Soyu, date 1680)
abandoned this narrow range of subjects, and became
a landscape carver of such consummate skill that the
Yedo Court conferred on him the title of Techizen no
Kami, and he was thenceforth known in the world of
art as Techizen. The Nara family gave to Japan
three of her greatest artists, Toshiharu (1680), Toshi-
hisa (1720) and Yasuchika (1730). The last two do
not belong to the seventeenth century, but are men-
tioned here for the sake of convenience. These three
are commonly spoken of as the Nara Sambuku-tsui,
or " three pictures en suite of the Nara family." No
artists stand higher in Japanese estimation. Toshiha-
ru's art name was Soyu ; Yasuchika's was To-u, and
Toshihisa is often called Tahei, but these appellations
are not found upon their works. Yasuchika belongs
really to the Tsuchiya family, but was adopted into
the Nara. He ranks as the greatest of the three.
They all carved in relief, but Toshihisa and Yasu-

276

SWORD-FURNITURE

chika combined the Yokoya style with their own,
and carved figures, plants, flowers, birds, and landscapes
with extraordinary delicacy and force. Yasuchika is
sometimes called the " Korin " of carvers, his qualities
of boldness, directness, and originality being not less
marked than those of the great painter Ogata Korin.
His works as well as those of Toshihisa have been
largely imitated, but, as a Japanese connoisseur of the
eighteenth century justly says, the imitations differ
from the originals as widely as glass differs from
diamond. The difference may be illustrated by say-
ing that prior to the Meiji era a good sword-guard by
one of the " Three Pictures " sold for the equivalent
of from two hundred to four hundred yen, whereas an
imitation, however skilful, was appraised at about as
many sen.1 It should be noted that a great deal of
confusion exists between Toshihisa, and his teacher
Toshinga. That is partly due to the fact that the
second ideograph of the former's name may be read
naga, but also to the fact that Toshinaga, though he
has received less recognition than Toshihisa, can
scarcely be called an inferior artist, and that, owing to
the number of his pupils, he exercised a lasting influ-
ence on the fame of the family. Toshinaga's art
name was Cbikan. No less than forty-four experts
of the Nara school worked between the beginning of
the seventeenth and the middle of the nineteenth
century, though only six of them were actual repre-
sentatives of the family.

The century was remarkable for a great develop-
ment of the art of chiselling a jour. That kind of
decoration, as already shown, represented almost the
only style of the early forgers of sword-guards, and

1 See Appendix, note 39.

277

JAPAN

was practised by them with much success. But they
treated the guard as though it were a block of card-
board, and were content with the simple operation of
piercing, so that the decorative design appeared in
outline only. At the end of the sixteenth century, or
the beginning of the seventeenth, a new departure
was made by adding surface modelling to pierced
work. The difference thus produced can be easily
explained by saying that whereas a design of cherry
petals, for example, took the form of a mere diaper
according to the old method, it became, according to
the new, a cluster of accurately shaped blossoms and
leaves suspended within the circumference of the
guard. Under this artistic impulse the guard soon
ceased to have the character of a frame, or field, for
the design, and was wholly absorbed into the latter.
An immense variety of beautiful and cleverly con-
ceived specimens then came into existence. The rim
of the guard, ceasing to be rigidly circular, square, or
oval, adapted itself to the demands of the design ; and
the carver, while taking care not to sacrifice the pro-
tective purpose of his work, allowed himself wide
latitude and irregularity of shape. Thus the " ascend-
ing " and " descending " dragons, together with the
clouds among which they fly, were disposed so that
the backs of the monsters formed the rim of the
guard ; and a procession of rats pursuing each other
in a circle filled all the space surrounding a central
haft-socket ; or a branch of cherry-bloom, or of plum-
blossoms, or of pine-branches, or a cluster of all three
combined, was skilfully bent into a circular medallion.
Wreaths of iris, sheaves of rice, circlets of intertwined
serpents, loops of crayfish, garlands of bean-sprays,
— it would scarcely be possible to enumerate the

278

SWORD-FURNITURE

multitude of notions adopted by the carvers of this
school. One of the principal centres of manufacture
was the province of Choshiu, the Yamaguchi Pre-
fecture of the present day. As early as the close of
the fourteenth century, an expert called Mitsune (art
name, *Jokan Ins hi) began to work at Suwo in that
province, and founded the Nakai family. This artist
and his immediate successors made no special contri-
butions to the art ; they followed the old style of
decoration applied to a flat surface. But at the be-
ginning of the seventeenth century Nobutsune, a scion
of the family, moved from Suwo to Hagi in the same
fief, and the work of the Nakai experts thenceforth
began to attract wide attention. Nobutsune's grand-
son, Tomoyuki (1660, the first of that name, i.e.
Zensuke, as distinguished from the second, Zembei),
and above all his great-grandson, Tomotsune (1680),
stand in the front rank of chisellers. They carved
iron guards with the most elaborately chiselled designs
a jour, involving both faces of the guard, their motives
being warriors, mythological figures, birds, animals,
flowers, landscapes, fish, insects, in short, every natural
object that could be utilised for such a purpose.
While Tomoyuki was approaching the zenith of his
fame, an expert of the Umetada family, named Meiju,
moved from Kyoto to Hagi, and his grandson Nobu-
masa (1690) established the Okada family, which
contributed several good artists to the Choshiu school.
Another and more important family whose represen-
tatives also worked at Hagi, was the Okamoto,1 of
which there were two branches, one founded at the
end of the sixteenth century by Tomoharu; the other,
a hundred years later, by Tomotsugu. Yet another

1 See Appendix, note 40.

279

JAPAN

family was the Fujii, founded contemporaneously with
the later branch of the Okamoto by Kyokaze. No
detailed reference need be here made to the experts
that bore the names of these families. Their work
was nearly all in the same style, chiselling a jour with
surface modelling; but in comparatively modern
times some of them abandoned that fashion and be-
came highly skilled in relief carving of the Kyoto
school. The material used by the Choshiu artists
was invariably iron, which they tempered and treated
with marked ability, the Satsuma workers alone being
counted their peers in that respect. Inlaying and
picking out with gold were freely resorted to in the
decoration of elaborate specimens.

But it is to the Kinai family of Yechizen that the
seventeenth century owes its finest examples of chisel-
ling a jour. Remarkable as were the achievements
of this family, its record is somewhat obscure. The
best authorities agree, however, that the first Kinai
expert worked about the year I68O,1 and that he
was succeeded by five generations of the family.
They all used the mark Kinai, prefixing the ideograph
Yechiztn or Techizen no Kuni, and their productions
are thus far indistinguishable. But the second Kinai
(1660) was incomparably the greatest expert of the
family. It will scarcely be too much to say that he
stands at the head of all Japanese sukashi chisellers.
He carved designs a jour in iron with as much deli-
cacy and elaboration as though the material were
paper. Of course a sword-guard, which must have
a certain degree of solidity and thickness, does not
offer the best field for such work. It is in censers —
especially clove-boilers — and incense boxes that the

1 See Appendix, note 41.

280

n arft moil noiaairmai yd nsjlct ate aemtDfrj e>«»riT

Menuki.

By Goto Sokujo.

By Tsuno Jimpo.

By Goto Teljo.

4
Menuki In Iron.
By Hamano Shozui.

5
Menuki In Iron.

By Yokoya Somin and Kikuoka
Mitsuyuki.

6
Menuki in Iron.
By Kikuoka Mitsuyuki

7
Menuki in Iron.
By Omori Eishu.

8
Menuki.

By Chlzuka Hlsanori, pupil of
Omorl Eishu.

Menuki.
By Iwamoto Kankan.

Menuki.

Knife Handle.

By Ishlguro Masatsune.

By Konoharu Aklra.

By Goto Genjo.

Knife Handle.

By Goto Teijo.

By-Nara Toshinaga,

Bj Hamano Shozai.

Knife Handle.

Knl£e Handle.

Knife Handle.

By Suminoye Busen.

By Murakami Jochlku.

By Goto Genjo.

Knife Handle.

By Goto Tsujo.

By Yakaya Somin.

By Hosono Masamori.

Knife Handle.

Ring and Tip.

By Kikuchi Tsunechika.

By Goto IchijS.

By Tsuchiya Yasuchika.

Ring and Tip.

By Omorl Eishu.

By Ishiguro Masatsune.

By Nagatsune.

Ring and

Tip.

Ring and Tip.

By Suminoye

Busen. By

Otsuki Mitsuoki.

(See page-287.)
These pictures are taken by permission from the negatives of the Histoire de 1'Art du Japan.

17.

26.

29.

27.

Z4-

SWORD-FURNITURE

most wonderful examples of Kinai's skill are found.
These utensils he could cast of wafer-like thinness,
decorating them afterwards with pierced patterns fine
as lace. Many exquisite specimens were made by
him to order of the feudal chief of Yechizen, who
presented them to the Court in Yedo. Thus Kinai's
chefs-d'oeuvre came to be called Kenjo Kinai (pre-
sentation Kinai), a term generally applied in later
times to all art productions of superlative excellence.
The Kinai experts are specially spoken of for supple-
menting pierced decoration with surface modelling.
After the fame of the family had been established, all
the sukashi-bori work produced in Yechizen, whether
from the Kinai ateliers or not, was generally classed
as Kinai-bori, though Kanemori (1680) and Chiusaku
1700), working independently, turned out many ex-
amples so good as to deserve distinct mention.

The Akao family of Yechizen must also be referred
to. Its founder, Yoshitsugu, was a contemporary of
the first Kinai, and worked in the same style. But it is
on account of his son, also called Yoshitsugu, that the
family chiefly deserves to be remembered ; for this
artist (1670) was the first to employ chiselling a jour
in the decoration of shakudo guards. Such work had
hitherto been confined to iron, but from Yoshitsugu's
time it came to be applied to all metals, shakudo, shi-
buichi, silver, gold, and brass. This new departure
may almost be said to mark an epoch, for by skilful
employment of the sukashi process the artist was
able to produce effects of atmosphere and space
which immensely enhanced the beauty of a design.1
Yoshitsugu2 subsequently settled in Yedo, and was
succeeded by experts of the Akao family through

1 See Appendix, note 42. 2 See Appendix, note 43.

28l

JAPAN
several generations, but none of them attained special

skill.

At the time of the second Kinai, the province of
Echizen possessed another artist, Kogitsune, who en-
joys a great reputation in Japan. Local tradition
says that, being ordered to carve a lifelike dragon for
the chief of the province, he sat for ten days and
nights in the open air at Mikuni, watching the
whirlwinds for which that place was remarkable.
At last he imagined that he saw a dragon in one of
the revolving storms, and the impression was so vivid
that he was able to reproduce the monster in iron
exactly as he had seen it, a very unusual kind of
dragon.

Before dismissing the subject of chiselling a jour in
the seventeenth century, reference must be made to
Umetada Muneyuki (1650), a Kyoto expert, who did
magnificent work of that nature, several of his master-
pieces being made to order of the Sboguns Court in
Yedo ; and also to the Ito family, founded by Masanobu
in 1670. Masanobu, commonly called Tsuboya
Tasuke, or " Tasuke the guard-maker," lived in Kyoto,
and won a high reputation. His son, Masatsune, how-
ever, was the artist of the family par excellence. He
settled in Yedo, received the appointment of guard-
maker to the Shogun's Court, and was scarcely inferior
to the second Kinai as a chiseller of decoration a jour.
Representatives of the Ito family continued to work
in Yedo down to the Metji era, and one of them, to
whom further reference will be made, now ranks
among the masters of the era. The Ito chisellers
followed the lead of Akao Yoshitsugu, and worked in
sbakudo, shibuichi, etc. as well as in iron.

In this context reference must be made to a school

282

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

of experts who worked at Hikone in Omi province.
Their style was moulded on that of Kitagawa S5den
(circ. 1640), who forged large iron guards having
curved edges, and decorated them with chiselling
a jour as well as surface modelling. The peculiarity
of these guards was that the figures generally sculp-
tured were those of Dutchmen, Chinese, or some of
the uncouth-looking foreigners depicted in ancient
Japanese encyclopedias of ethnography. The chisel-
ling was more or less crude and clumsy, and gold
damascening was usually added. Soden used the mark
Sobtisbi, which is vulgarly pronounced Mogarasbi.
Thus his guards, and those subsequently produced at
Hikone in the same style, are commonly spoken of as
Mogarashi-tsuba.

Among the families which contributed materially
to make the seventeenth century remarkable for
masterpieces of chiselling in all grades of relief and in
the round, with occasional additions, in later times,
of the kata-kiri method of the Yokoya masters, a high
place must be assigned to the Yoshioka of Yedo,
founded by Shigehiro at the close of the sixteenth
century, and brought into prominence by his son
Shigetsugu, who was appointed to work for the Yedo
Court in the year 1600 and died in 1653. The
Yoshioka was a noble family of Fujiwara descent, and
its early representatives had the titles of Bungo-no-suke
and Buzen-no-suke. They did not use these titles in
marking their works, but they did frequently use the
title Inaba-no-suke. Attached to the employment of
the latter there was a restriction characteristic of
Japanese customs. The Inaba branch of the same
family had a hereditary though conditional right to
the high post of court councillor (goroju^, and when-

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JAPAN

ever an Inaba noble held that office, the Yoshioka
artists were precluded from putting Inaba-no-suke
on their works. The restriction happened to be in-
operative in the days of Shigehiro (called also Moro-
tsugu, and, in art circles, Sotoku) and Shigetsugu (art
name, Soju), the latter of whom is commonly spoken
of, with reference to his carvings, as Inaba-no-suke.
His forte was extreme delicacy and fineness. Among
the heirlooms of his family is a peach-stone carved
by him after an elaborate drawing of a Japanese festi-
val. The preparation of the stone reduced it to about
two-thirds of its natural size, and on the scanty sur-
face that remained Shigetsugu carved eight boats each
carrying an elaborate festival-car, and each manned by
thirty-three monkeys. Beside the water on which
the boats floated there stood a grove of pine-trees, and
under their shadows mandarin ducks sailed, as em-
blems of love and constancy. Another well-known
example of his skill may be seen at the temple Zojo-ji,
in the Shiba Park (Tokyo). It is a carving on stone,
representing the Nirvana of Buddha (Nehan-ko}, and
it was executed immediately after the death of the
second Tokugawa Shogun (posthumous name, Tai-toku-
in-den}y when Shigetsugu was in his seventy-third year.
The Yoshioka family have continued to work in Yedo
through successive generations down to the present
day, and a branch was founded in Sendai in the
middle of the seventeenth century by Kiyotsugu. No
novel features are presented by the Yoshioka carvings :
they combine the styles of all the schools.

The Isono family, which came into note in the
days of Jochiku (1630), commonly called Masuya
Bunyemon, ranked with the Yoshioka masters for
minute and delicate chiselling, but were distinguished

284

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

by more profuse use of gold inlaying. Jochiku is
considered one of the greatest chisellers of insects that
Japan ever produced. His daughter, Jotetsu, whose
works are spoken of as musume-bori (the girl's carvings),
was very successful in the same line, as were also
several of his pupils and descendants.

It was in the early part of this century (1620) that
Hikoshiro, founder of the Hirata family, began to
apply vitrifiable enamels in the decoration of sword-
furniture. Technical knowledge of the enamelling
processes existed in Japan before his time, nor does
any inventive credit belong to him except in the
matter of opaque white enamel, which he was the first
to manufacture and which remained a specialty of his
family down to recent times. All the other enamels
employed by him — green, yellow, blue, red, and
purple — were translucid (suki-jippo). Parts of the
design were cloisonned, so as to receive the enamels, and
much brilliancy of decorative effect was thus produced.
The Hirata experts cannot be ranked with Japan's
best glyptic artists. The only member of the family
who deserves to be called a great chiseller was Haru-
nari (1810). For the information of collectors it may
be mentioned that sword-mounts having enamel
decoration and bearing the Hirata mark are not
necessarily identifiable as products of the Hirata
family. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,
the term Hirata was used to designate a style rather
than a family, and artisans often carved it oj» guards
in the former sense.

In addition to the families of experts already spoken
of as having made their debut in this century, the
following may be noted without any detailed refer-
ence : — the Tsuji of Yedo, founded by Masachika

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JAPAN

(1660), which produced several generations of skilled
experts ; the Nomura, also of Yedo, founded by Masa-
oki (1650); the Wakabayashi of Toyama in Yetchiu,
founded by Kaneko Denzaburo (1690); the Inouye
of Kyoto, founded by Saburozayemon (1650); the
Yasui of Kyoto, founded by Mitsusada (1650) and
made specially famous by the incomparable chiseller
Nagatsune (1770), commonly called Ichi-no-miya Te-
cbizen ; the Chiyo of Tsuyama (in Mimasaka), founded
by Kinsuke (1680), whose experts produced magnifi-
cent silver work ; the Kaneko of Kii, founded by
Kichinojo (1640); the Uyemura of Kyoto, founded
by Yasunobu (1600) and made celebrated by Masuya
Kuhei (1600), and Masuya Kichibei (1720); and
greatest perhaps, of all these, the Iwamoto of Yedo,
founded by Chiubei (1680), a pupil of Yokoya Somin.
The century closed when Yanagawa Naomasa, one of
the most renowned masters in the whole history of
the art, was perpetuating in Yedo the noble style of his
teacher Somin.

EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

An immense quantity of beautiful work distin-
guished this century, and the names of many great
experts appear in its annals, but it added nothing to
the methods already practised. Scores of skilled
chisellers devoted themselves to perfecting the processes
of their predecessors without inventing any new
technical mode, and, on the whole, it may be said
that the distinguishing features of the century were
elaboration of detail and splendour of decorative
effect. Such developments were consistent with the
spirit of the time, for the country had now enjoyed a

286

SWORD -FURNITURE

hundred years of unprecedented peace, and the various
principalities throughout the empire, ceasing to be
disturbed by problems of military expansion and
perils or projects of aggression, had become competi-
tive centres of art production.

At the opening of the century Gorobei of Kyoto is
found chiselling iron guards with decoration a jour so
skilfully that the term kinai, which had previously
been used to designate particularly delicate and elabo-
rate work of this description was now replaced by
Daigoro-saku, a name obtained by compounding the
first ideographs of Daimonji-yay as the artists' atelier
was called, and " Gorobei.'* Contemporaneous with
Gorobei was Shoyemon, called also Tomoyoshi or
Yuki, who has had few peers as a maker of mokume
grounds. Shoyemon is generally known as Nomura
Masa-ya.1 He entered the service of the feudal chief
of Awa, and founded a branch of the Nomura family
in Tokushima, the capital of that fief. It should be
noted that Yedo was the seat of the elder branch of
the Nomura family, which was founded by Masatoki
(1660), and gave to Japan a number of well-remem-
bered experts, — Masanori (art name, Itoku, 1790),
Masayoshi (art name, Suibaku, 1760); Masatsugu
(1760); Masayoshi (art name, Katdji, 1790), and
others. All these experts excelled in the production
of mokume, but were also appreciated for their chisel-
ling in relief. The most celebrated of all the Nomura
masters was Jimpo (1750), commonly called Tsu
Jimpo. He took his designs from the pictures of
Tanyu, the greatest artist of the preceding century,
and his chiselling shows extraordinary minuteness and
delicacy. Numerous imitations of his work were

1 See Appendix, note 44.

287

JAPAN

produced in the second half of the eighteenth century.
Scarcely less renowned was another 'member of the
same family, artistically known as Hiyobu-jo or Tusen
(1790). His literary talents were as great as his
glyptic skill, and he received from the Yedo Court the
honorary title of Hogen.

It is observable that in this century the artists
showed a disposition to make a specialty of particular
fields of design. Thus Shoami Tempo (1700), of
Kyoto, confined himself almost exclusively to chisel-
ling peonies and chrysanthemums tossed by the wind.
Kikugawa Muneyoshi (1720), of Yedo, commonly
called Chobei, carved chrysanthemums so admirably
that Chobei- kiku (Chobei chrysanthemums) came to be
a synonym for exceptionally fine work of this class.
Nara Ichibei (1730), pupil of the great Nara Yasu-
chika, became so celebrated for chiselling the land-
scapes of Omi that his contemporaries spoke of him
as Miidera 1 Ichibei. Nara Masanaga ( 1 740) obtained
equal fame for his moor-scapes with a praying
mantis and tufts of soft feathery susuki (Eularia ja-
ponica} in the foreground. Uyemura Munemine
(1720) of Kyoto excelled in the chiselling of warriors.
Yasuyama Motozumi (1760), of Mito, one of the
greatest masters of any era, who was known in art
circles as Sekijoken or Togu chiselled mythological
Chinese figures with extraordinary force and delicacy,
his favourite metal being sbibuichi. Shinshichi, of
Osaka (1730), chose a fishing-rod and river trout as
his specialty. Noda Yoshihiro (1730), of Yedo,
chiselled groups of fishes with admirable fidelity.
Tamagawa Yoshihisa (1790), of Mito, made himself
famous by his dragons. Fujita Katsusada (1700), of

1 See Appendix, note 45.

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S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

Osaka, is remembered for his wonderful masks and
cuttle-fish. Kikuoka Mitsuyuki (1780), of Yedo, ar-
tistically known as Dopposai or Saikaon, an artist of
the highest ability, is held to have equalled Somin as
a carver of peonies; and Shoami Morikuni (1730),
of Matsuyama (lyo province), has had few equals as a
chiseller of dragons and clouds. This list might be
greatly prolonged, but such distinctions are apt to be
misleading, since in many cases they suggest a nar-
rower range of motives than the artists in question
really selected.

The Nara family made large contributions to the
finest productions of this century. Toshihisa and
Yasuchika, who worked during the first half of the
century, have already been spoken of, and with them
must be bracketed Joi (art name, Issando Nagaharu,
1720), who by many connoisseurs is regarded as the
peer of the " Three Nara Pictures." It is not cer-
tain whether Joi belonged originally to the Nara
family or was adopted into it. He learned carving
from Nara Hisanaga (art name, Zenzo), who, in turn,
was a brilliant pupil of the celebrated Nara Toshinaga.
Joi excelled in the shishi-ai style of carving. His
work was singularly soft without sacrificing strength,
and he chose elaborate subjects, using gold freely for
purposes of damascening and picking out. He drew
his motives chiefly from martial history,1 but he
chiselled flowers, also, and landscapes with consum-
mate skill. Three other members of the Nara family
deserve a place in this context. They are Masanaga
(1740), his son Masachika (1760), and Masanobu.
Masanaga (art name, Seiraku) was a pupil of Toshihisa.
Reference has already been made to his celebrated

1 See Appendix, note 46.

VOL. vii. — 19 289

JAPAN

landscapes with a praying mantis and tufts of Eularia
japonic* in the foreground. His son, Masachika,
became a pupil of Joi in the latter's old age, and took
the art name of Jowa. He did not reach the high
level of either his teacher or his father, but he was
undoubtedly a grand expert. Nara Masanobu (1750)
had the art names of Kikuju-sai and Kiko. His
works are greatly prized by Japanese connoisseurs, but
as his specialty was the carving of the amariyo (the
rain-dragon), he does not appeal strongly to foreign
taste.

At the close of the seventeenth century and the
beginning of the eighteenth, Nagasaki's experts were
brought into prominence by Kizayemon, artistically
known as Jakushi. Nagasaki, from time immemo-
rial, had been permeated by Chinese influences, being
the centre of trade and intercourse between Japan and
the neighbouring empire. Hence its chisellers of
sword-mounts affected designs generally called kwanto-
gata, or Canton style, many examples of which may
be seen throughout the whole field of Japanese deco-
rative art. The familiar " willow-pattern " is the
worst specimen of this type. Its features are stiff
figures of Chinese warriors, court ladies, mandarins or
historical personages, set in a stereotyped garden with
architectural accompaniment ; or little children —
the well-known kara-ko (Chinese children) — with
tonsured heads, playing various out-door games ; or
dragons of more or less conventionalised shape.
Jakushi carved dragons, but he also chiselled land-
scapes, bamboos tossed by the wind and other designs
of flowers and foliage, and his skill was so conspicu-
ous that in Nagasaki people learned to use the term
Jakusbi-bori as generally distinctive of beautiful work.

290

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

The use of kwanto-gata motives are riot confined to
Nagasaki experts. Goto Kiyonori, who worked in
Yedo contemporaneously with Jakushi, became cele-
brated for similar carving, and examples of it are not
infrequently found among the productions of inferior
experts. These kwanto-tsuba, and the mogarasbi tsuba
already described, are, perhaps, the least interesting
of all the ko-dogu.

The artists thus far noticed as belonging to the
eighteenth century were all representatives of families
established at an earlier date. Families which not
only gave lustre to the century but also had their
origin in it, are the Hamano, the Omori, the
Iwamoto, and the Okamoto. These houses produced
experts who may be said to have carried the art to
its zenith.

The Hamano family of Yedo first came into note
in the days of Masayori (1730), a pupil of the great
Nara Toshihisa. Masayori is always known as Sh5zui,
the alternative pronunciation of the ideographs form-
ing his name. He had many art titles — Otsuriuken,
Miboku Rifudo, etc. He worked chiefly in shakudo,
but often in iron, not making any departure from the
Nara style, but using his chisels with extraordinary
strength yet at no sacrifice of grace and delicacy.
The Soken Kisbo says that the lines of his carving are
like " the storm of a tiger's roar or the wind of a drag-
on's rush through the clouds." It may be truly said
of the Hamano family that it did not give one in-
ferior artist to Japan. Sh5zui himself was probably
the greatest, but his pupils Moriyuki and Noriyori,
and his successors Masanobu (1780) and Norinobu
(1790) rank almost as his peers.1 The Hamano

1 See Appendix, note 47.

291

JAPAN

artists achieved their greatest successes in figure sub-
jects, but among specimens by Shozui there are found
some exquisitely delicate and lifelike carvings of bees,
spiders, fireflies and herons.

The Omori family of Yedo is generally supposed
to have been founded by Shigemitsu, who worked in
the opening years of the eighteenth century, but his
father, Shirohei, a samurai of Odawara, was really the
first Omori carver. Chronologically, therefore, the
family should have been referred to in the notice of
the seventeenth century ; but it is placed in the eigh-
teenth because it did not begin to be famous until the
days of Shigemitsu. The latter had the advantage of
studying under two of the great Nara masters, Ichibei
— mentioned above as "Miidera Ichibei" — and
Yasuchika. He carved with great skill in the Nara
fashion. It was by his pupil Terumasa, however, that
the style of the Omori family was fixed — namely,
a combination of the Nara and Yokoya methods,
with extreme elaboration of detail and profuse use
of all decorative adjuncts, such as inlaying and pick-
ing out with gold, silver, copper, etc. Terumasa
received instruction from the great Somin (Yokoya)
as well as from Shigemitsu, and would doubtless be
remembered as a most distinguished artist had not
his fame been completely eclipsed by that of his
adopted son, Teruhide (1748-1798), known in art
circles as Ittosai or Riu-u-sai. Teruhide was a grand
chiseller. Some of his high-relief peony sprays in
gold on shakudo are not inferior to S5min's master-
pieces. He is said to have been the first to carve
wave diaper in high relief, and to him was due a splen-
didly decorative ground of shakudo inlaid with gold
in the aventurine pattern. The Soken Kisho, says of

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SWORD-FURNITURE

Teruhide : " His chiselling has force that would rend
a rock. His wave diapers deeply carved in shibuichi
are magnificent, and nothing could exceed the beauty
of his peonies in high relief on aventurine grounds.
He seems to have based his method of carving flowers
on Somins celebrated ichirin-botan (single-blossom
peony). His martial figures also are grand." It
may be said that peonies and Dogs of Fo (shuhi\ were
Teruhide's specialties. Among ten choice examples
of his work in a Tokyo collection, only two are with-
out peony flowers either in the principal or a subor-
dinate place. Many artists bore the family name after
Teruhide's time, but although their work was of the
finest quality from a decorative point of view, they
scarcely merit special mention on account of their
glyptic skill.

Concerning the Iwamoto family of Yedo the same
remark applies as that made about the Omori, namely,
that although founded in the seventeenth century, it
did not become famous until the eighteenth. The
founder was Chiubei (1680), a pupil of the celebrated
Yoko-ya Somin, and the family's greatest master was
Konkwan (1/60-1801), who is counted one of
Japan's most skilled chisellers of fishes of all kinds
(especially Crustacea), but who also carved with ad-
mirable ability wild-fowl, insects, flowers and even
figures. Konkwan had three art names, but he seems
to have always marked his pieces Iivamoto Konkwan.
The productions of the Iwamoto experts were not
so elaborately decorative as those of the Omori, but
as an artist Konkwan is certainly not inferior to Teru-
hide. It is recorded that during the latter years of
his life the Iwamoto master was so besieged by clients

293

JAPAN

that he finally hung out this sign : " Orders cannot
be quickly executed. Importunity is deprecated."

The Okamoto family of Kyoto was a branch of
the great Okamoto of Hagi (Choshiu), already
alluded to. It was founded in 1750 by Harukuni
(originally called Kuniharu), who is known in art
circles as Tetsuya-ya Dembei (Dembei the Iron chisel-
ler). Harukuni worked in iron. Although the rep-
resentatives of his family in Choshiu were celebrated
chiefly for chiselling *a jour, he reduced that kind of
decoration to a subordinate position, and relied more
upon relief carving in all its grades, as well as upon
the kata-kiri method. Indeed, by Dembei' s time
the experts of Kyoto and Yedo had ceased to make
a jour chiselling the principal feature in a decorative
scheme. They preferred to utilise such work with
reference to its pictorial suggestiveness. Thus a de-
lightful effect of space and atmosphere is produced
by clouds chiselled a jour, with a silver moon strug-
gling through them, its disc revealed in the open
spaces and concealed by the solid rack ; or the sheen
of water is obtained by a delicate outline of transpar-
ent carving ; or the leaves and branches of a tree are
projected against the sky by cutting out all interven-
ing portions. Even when the a jour feature predomi-
nated, it was always associated with decoration carved
in the round, so that it served chiefly to detach the
sculptured object from the flat surface.

294

; ;; Chapter VIII

SCULPTURE ON SWORD-FURNITURE

(Continued r)

ONE of the most illustrious artists of this
century, or indeed of any century, was
Kashiwaya Nagatsune (1750-1786), called
in art circles Setsuzan or GanshoshL It
is difficult to conceive a higher standard of force,
accuracy, and grace than he attained. He seems
to have worked almost entirely on shakudo and
shibuichi bases, but he used gold, silver, and copper
freely for decorative purposes. In his early days the
objects that he preferred to chisel were frogs, snails,
beetles, and so forth, and generally he added a tuft of
the grass called tsukushi (a species of horse-tail). But
he subsequently extended his range to dragons, figures,
demons, masks, and other objects, and among his nu-
merous works, all of which are highly valued in
Japan, there is not one of inferior quality. His
Deva Kings, chiselled in high relief in shakudo with
gold decoration, may be compared to the celebrated
wooden statues at the temple Kofuku-ji. Japanese
connoisseurs liken the nobility and purity of Nagat-
sune's style to " the moon rising over Obate moun-
tain." In recognition of his exceptional talent he
was honoured by the Kyoto court with the title of
Daijo of Ichi-no-miya in Yechizen. His son, Naga-

295

JAPAN

yoshi, did not fall greatly short of Nagatsune himself
in ability. Both worked in Kyoto.

The only remaining names that need be especially
referred to in the history of the eighteenth century
are those of Kusakari Kiyosada (1790), generally
known as Kusakari Hachisaburo, who is said to
have been the greatest inlayer that ever worked in
Sendai ; Shichibei (i/oo) of Kyoto, whose fame as
an inlayer procured for particularly fine work of that
nature the term Zoshichi ; and Ito Kiyoyasu (1750)
of Yedo, the first to become celebrated for the variety
of inlaying called sumi-zogan.

NINETEENTH CENTURY

By more than one Western critic of Japanese
metal-work it has been asserted that a period of
decadence set in before the middle of the nineteenth
century, and that all productions subsequent to the
year 1835 or 1840 show evidences of deterioration.
It would be very difficult to discover any valid
grounds for such a statement, nor is it endorsed for
a moment by Japanese connoisseurs. Everywhere
dilettanti may be found whose estimate of the
merits of a work of art ascends with the cycles that
have elapsed since its production. But that kind of
picturesque romance belongs to a special domain of
aesthetic education, and while its contentions are par-
tially admissible so long as they refer to a Somin, a
Yasuchika, a Naomasa, or a Kinai, they must be set
aside ruthlessly when they do flagrant injustice to the
numerously peopled school of fine artists in metal
who worked for Japan during the first seven and a
half — not the first three — decades of the nineteenth

296

SWORD- FURNITURE

century. And in speaking of the first seven and a
half decades, it is not intended to suggest that the
year 1875 saw the end of her artistic metal-work.
On the contrary, the reader already knows that the
art has merely developed new phases in modern
times, and that not only are its masters as skilled
now as they were in the days of the Goto, the Nara,
the Yokoya, and the Yanagawa celebrities, but also
that their productions must be called in many respects
greater and more interesting than those of their
renowned predecessors. If sword-mounts alone be
considered, the year 1876 may be taken as the time
of the art's demise, for in 1876 the wearing of
swords was interdicted and purchasers of their furni-
ture were at once reduced from hundreds of thousands
of samurai and privileged persons, to a few scores of
foreign curio-collectors. Thousands of grand speci-
mens found their way at once to the melting-pot for
the sake of the modicum of precious metal that
could be extracted from them, and in an incredibly
short time the multitude of master-pieces that must
have existed in 1876 disappeared almost completely.
The fate of that great assemblage of beautiful objects
is indeed a mystery. Hundreds of skilled experts
had been engaged continuously during five centuries
on their production ; millions of samurai had taken a
pride in their possession, and the objects themselves
were imperishable. Yet in less than thirty-five years
they virtually ceased to be procurable in Japan. It
is true that a considerable number went to Europe
and America, and that an equal, or perhaps even a
larger, number remained in Japanese collections.
But what comparison can be set up between the petty
fraction thus accounted for and the vast multitude

297

JAPAN

that must have existed at the moment when the edict
of 1 876 went forth ? This is one of the most curious
pages of the iconoclastic chapter opened simultane-
ously with the opening of Japan to foreign intercourse.
As the old order changed, the beauties it had be-
queathed to the country were swept away with the
blemishes it had begotten ; and if the process was some-
times slow in the latter case, it was often almost miracu-
lously rapid in the former. Incredible though the fact
may seem, it is nevertheless a fact that when, about the
year 1880, United States' collectors began to interest
themselves keenly in Japanese sword-mounts, and to
acquire them in the resolute manner of New York
and Chicago, the supply of genuine specimens could
not meet this fitful and comparatively paltry demand,
and the forger drove a brisk trade for a season, cast-
ing where he could not chisel, and substituting flash
and profusion of ornament for force and delicacy of
sculpture. To-day, an amateur applying himself in
Japan to make a representative collection of fine
sword-mounts could not hope for more than very
partial success. Those that are already fortunate in the
possession of such objects may therefore congratulate
themselves, for while in every other branch of Japan-
ese art no serious break has occurred in the continuity
of successful production, the sword-mount is altogether
a thing of the past and will never again occupy the
attention of great sculptors.

As to the assertion made above that sword-mount
experts continued to work with undiminished skill
down to the year 1876, a better illustration cannot
be adduced than that of Goto Ichijo. The reader
will probably have observed that, in these records of
centuries, no reference is made to the Goto family.

298

S WO R D-F U R N I T U R E

It is not to be inferred, of course, that the omission
indicates absence of merit or of celebrity. But at the
outset considerable space was devoted to the Goto
masters, and it has not seemed necessary to speak sub-
sequently of the various experts born in the branches
of the family ; for although many of them were great
carvers, they did not originate any new style, and the
indications given in the appended list of Glyptic
Artists are probably sufficient to show the Gotos'
share in the development of the art. It may be ex-
plained here, however, that in addition to the princi-
pal family and its two great branches in Kyoto — the
Kami-Goto and the Shimo-Goto — there were in
that city two minor branches ; in Kaga a branch
founded by Ichiyemon, a pupil of Kenjo, in 1610;
and in Noto a branch founded in 1550 by Jinyemon,
a pupil of Takujo. Goto Yeijiro, afterwards known
as Goto Ichijo, was born in 1791 and died in 1876.
The second son of the fifteenth representative of the
principal family, he was adopted into the branch
house of Hachirobei (art name, Kenjo), to whose
hereditary pension of fifty koku of rice he succeeded in
1805, taking the names Mitsuyo and Hachirobei.
When only nineteen years of age he received a com-
mission to carve mounts for a sword belonging to the
Emperor Kokaku, and he succeeded so well that the
title of Hokkyo was accorded to him, together with a
reward of twenty pieces of silver and five bundles of
silk. In his thirty-fourth year he was invited to
Yedo by the Tokugawa Court, received a house and
a perpetual pension of ten rations, which was after-
wards increased from time to time, until, in 1862, he
attained the highest art rank, that of Hogen. Ichijo
had no less than fifty pupils, all of whom worked

299

JAPAN

with considerable success. Among them was occa-
sionally numbered Natsuo, who probably deserves to
rank next to Ichijo among the masters of the nine-
teenth century. Ichijo has left it on record that in
his youth he made a habit of praying at the shrine
of Fushimi Inari that the deity would grant him skill.
One night after his devotions, he fell asleep and saw
in a dream a dragon carved by his illustrious ancestor,
Goto Yujo. Thenceforth he had before his eyes a
perfect model of a dragon. His workmanship, how-
ever, was finer than anything done by Yujo. Jap-
anese connoisseurs say that it combines the soft style
of Goto Kwojo with the microscopic minuteness of
Goto Kenjo, and a story is told that a party of skilled
experts being challenged to name the maker of a set
of sword-mounts by Ichijo without seeing the name
carved on the back, were divided in opinion as to
whether the work should be ascribed to Kwoj5 or to
Kenjo. These details furnish some indication of the
career of a great Japanese carver, and of the honours
extended to him. There was, indeed, no limit to
the appreciation he received. Among the archives
of Ichijo's family there is a letter addressed to the
artist by Okubo Toshimitsu, one of the leading states-
men of the Restoration. It is couched in terms of
the most profound politeness ; it speaks of Ichijo's
work as beautiful enough to " move the gods to
tears ; " it declares that the specimens just completed
at the writer's request shall be treasured by him and
his heirs so long as the house of Okubo lasts. The
incentives that talent found in those days can thus be
appreciated. Ichijo certainly deserved to be famous.
He excelled in every kind of chiselling, though most
of his finest work is in relief; he knew how to pro-

300

S WO R D-F U R N ITU RE

duce admirable decorative effects by combining metals
of various colours ; his range of motives was almost
limitless, and the poetic feeling of some of his de-
signs gives them a charm quite independent of their
grand technique.

The difficulty experienced in attempting to set
down any record of the metal-workers in the nine-
teenth century is that quite an embarrassing number
of artists reached a standard entitling them to notice.
The greatest do not stand as far above the general
level as did the masters of preceding epochs, but, on
the other hand, the general level in the nineteenth
century was higher than it had ever been before.
It can be said with confidence, however, that no
school of experts contributed so much to the treas-
ures of the time as did the representatives and dis-
ciples of the Ishiguro family. According to strict
chronological order, this family should have been
included in the annals of the eighteenth century, for
its founder, Masatsune, who also must be called one
of its greatest representatives, was born in 1757 and
died in 1828. He is placed here, however, not only
because much of the finest work of his mature years
was executed in the nineteenth century, but also
because all his successors and pupils flourished during
the latter. The Ishiguro family carried the art to
an extreme standard of elaboration. No subject was
too intricate or too difficult for them, and it is proba-
ble that their works figure largely in foreign collec-
tions, for technical beauty and richness of general
effect are qualities which appeal at once to the
average dilettante. Masatsune had three art names —
yimiyo, Togakushi, and yikokusai — and during his
youth he called himself Koretsune. He is thus often

301

JAPAN

confounded with his second son, Koretsune, — an
equally great artist, — the confusion being augmented
by the fact that among Koretsune's seven art names —
Togakuski, Ritswnei, Shinryo, Hogyokusai, Gishinken,
Kounken, and Ichiyeian — the first was identical with
one of Masatsune's. No less than forty-two experts
belonged to the Ishiguro group, and every one of
them contributed some good specimens to the treas-
ures of the century. After Masatsune and Koretsune,
the most renowned were Koreshige (art name, Icbio\t
a pupil of Koretsune ; Koreo (art name, Hakuunshi),
also a pupil of Koretsune ; Yoshitsune (art names,
Senyusbi, Gammon, and Tominsai), grandson of Masat-
sune ; Masayoshi (art name, yikosai), a student of
Masatsune ; Koreyoshi (art names, Jikakushi and
Kwansai}, son of Masayoshi ; Yoshisato (art name,
Jitekisai), a pupil of Masayoshi who worked in Hizen;
Haruaki, who received the highest art title of Hogen ;
Masahiro (art names, Gantoshi, Keiho, Kwakujusai, and
Korinsha), a pupil of Masatsune; Masakiyo (art name,
yikiyokusai] ; Masaharu and Kiyonari (art name, Giyok-
kosai). All of these, with the one exception noted in
its place, worked in Yedo.

With the Ishiguro experts must be bracketed, in
point of technical skill, the three families of Omori,
Hamano, and Iwamoto. The origin of these has
already been spoken of, and it will be sufficient to
note here the celebrities that they severally contrib-
uted to the nineteenth century, namely : —

302

SWORD-FURNITURE

THE OMORI MASTERS AND THEIR PUPILS IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY

Hidetomo ; art name, Riuriusai. Yedo.

Hideyoshi ; art name, Ittokusai. Yedo.

Hideyori. Hirado (Hizen).

Hidenori. Hirado.

Hidetomi. Sendai.

Hidelciyo. Yedo.

Kazutomo ; art name, Kenkosai. Yedo.

Tomochika; art name, Riunsai. Yedo.

Tomotsune. Yedo.

Terumoto. Yedo.

THE HAMANO MASTERS AND THEIR PUPILS IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY

Shunzui, or Haruyori. Yedo.
Juzui, or Hisayori. Yedo.
Shuzui, or Hideyori. Yedo.
Kiuzui, or Hisayori. Yedo.

THE IWAMOTO MASTERS AND THEIR PUPILS IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY

Konju. Yedo.

Kwanri (end of eighteenth and beginning of nineteenth cen-
tury). Yedo.

Yeishu, or Yasuchika Shinsuke (end of eighteenth and be-
ginning of nineteenth century). Celebrated for Katakiri
chiselling. Mito.

Riyoyei, or Suzuki Kinyemon. Celebrated for carving fish.
Yedo.

Kwanjo.

Shoho, or Buto Gempachi, marked his works Konkwan-mon.
Yedo.

The productions of the four families, Omori,
Hamano, Iwamoto and Ishiguro, stand to the master-

303

JAPAN

pieces of the early metal-carvers in much the same
relation as the genre pictures (ukiyo-ye]y which had
their development contemporaneously with the work
of these families, stand to the paintings of the classical
school. In reviewing Japanese pictorial art it has
been shown that the popular school of painters, the
Ukiyo-ye artists, were a natural outcome of the social
evolution of their era, and that they reflected the
nation's passage from the comparatively austere canons
of a military age to the voluptuous ease and refine-
ment of the later Tokugawa epochs. Similar evi-
dence of the changes of the times might be expected
to present themselves in the field of glyptic art. They
do present themselves. The formal designs and uni-
form methods of chiselling ti jour practised up to the
middle of the fifteenth century represent the pure
Chinese style, or, at any rate, were suggested by the
classical spirit which then permeated every branch of
the national civilisation. By and by, when the im-
mortal painters Kano Masanobu and Kano Motonobu
raised their art into a new realm of national inspira-
tion, a corresponding impulse was felt in the domain
of metal carving, and the Goto masters, shaking
themselves partially free from classical fetters, began
to seek decorative motives in the pages of recent his-
tory or among the natural objects that surrounded
them. The work of the early Goto experts cannot,
however, be assigned purely to any one academy. In
their representations of historical scenes, warriors, and
animals they followed the Tosa school with almost
slavish accuracy. In their carvings of flowers, birds,
and incidents from the daily life of the people, they
took the Kano artists for models. And in their
chiselling of dragons, Dogs of Fo, Kylin, phoenixes,

304

SWORD GUARDS. PLATE I.

i. 5

By Tsuchlya Yasuchika. By Sugiura Tal.

2 &

By Jakusal. By Kitagawa. Soden.

3 7

By Nara Toshihis. By4lagidanl Katahet.

4 8

By Hamano Kozul. By Nakal Tomotsune.

(See page 296.)

SWORD-FURNITURE

and supernatural beings, they saw nothing higher than
Chinese types. They preserved, indeed, a closer
touch with the Chinese school than with any other,
for each scion of the family and each student in its
ateliers commenced his education by learning how to
carve a dragon, and in every Japanese collection of
Goto masterpieces the s 'his hi, the kirin, and the ho-o
repeat themselves persistently. But even Yujo him-
self did not recognise any limit to his range of motives,
and, as has been already seen, he and his descendants
must undoubtedly be credited with having opened
a new vista to their art. The Nara school was the
next link in the chain of evolution. Faithful to the
fashions of the era in which it had its birth, it made
a still wider departure from the classical style than the
Goto experts had attempted, and drew its inspiration
from the Kano and the Tosa schools only, combining
the strength, realism, and softness of the former with
the decorative splendour of the latter. The Yokoya
masters went a step farther. It is true that they may
be said to have revived the Chinese spirit, since linear
force, directness, and vitality became, in their hands,
paramount elements of glyptic skill. But in that
respect they stand to their own branch of art as the
Kano painters stood to theirs ; if they followed the
technical methods of the Chinese school, they derived
their motives chiefly from Japanese life and annals.
Side by side with the Yokoya masters, and in many
respects closely connected with them, the Yanagawa,
Kikuoka, Kikuchi, Yoshioka, and Kikugawa families
produced works which correspond with the pictures
of the naturalistic school of Kyoto, the Shijo academy,
which had its greatest representative in Maruyama
Okio. Then finally came the four families forming

VOL. VII. 2O

JAPAN

the popular school, the Omori, the Hamano, the
Iwamoto, and the Ishiguro, to whom Goto Ichijo must
be added as an unsurpassed master of their style. It is
difficult to convey in words any general idea of the
luxury of decoration, delicacy of chiselling, poetry of
motive, and, withal, simplicity of subject exhibited in
the masterpieces of experts like Omori Teruhide,
Iwamoto Konkwan, Hamano Noriyuki, Ishiguro
Masatsune, and many of their disciples and followers,
as well as their contemporary artists of the naturalistic
school. Perhaps the best plan is to describe briefly
a few specimens which may be regarded as fairly
illustrative. Here, for example, is a kozuka by Ishi-
guro Koreyoshi. The metal is shibuichl and the ends
are tipped with gold. It may be noted, en passant,
that many of the finest kozuka produced in the eigh-
teenth and nineteenth centuries have their ends and
backs of gold, though the face is shakudo, shibuichi,
or even copper. The kozuka in question is made
throughout of shibuichi, except the gold-shod ends, but
the back is richly inlaid with gold in the style called
klribaku (cut leaf) ; that is to say, tiny squares of
gold are scattered evenly over the whole field. On
the face is chiselled, in high relief, a hawk which has
just lighted among the branches of a blossoming
plum, and in the distance a sparrow is seen flying
away. The hawk's grey plumage is excellently sug-
gested by the patina of the shibuichi, and its feathers
and crest are etched with a delicate damascening
of gold. The plum blossoms are softly chiselled
in silver, and the sparrow's russet colour is well
rendered by the copper in which it is modelled.
The reverse has this couplet engraved in cursive
script : —

306

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

" Gone the old year,
Gone to his death ;
Tears for his tomb.
Yet from his bier
Stealeth spring's breath
Of wafted plum." l

Here, again, are two kozuka by Goto Ichijo. The
first is of copper backed with gold. On the face,
beautifully modelled in medium relief, are two golden
mummers of the New Year, dancing, instinct with
life, and above their heads the conventional decora-
tions of the season hang, incised. On the back these
lines are engraved : —

" Endless the ages shed on earth
Their gems of joy. Once more in truth
The jewel of a year's new birth,
Flashes the light of laughing youth
From fount and well. Each quickened tree
Gives pledge of leafy luxury.
A myriad signs of gladsome springs
And years untouched by pain or ruth
For you, my prince, this sunrise brings."

The second kozuka is of sbakudo, wrought on both
faces with fine-grained nanako. The design, chiselled
in low relief and painted, — no other term applies to
the skill of the manipulation, — painted with gold,
silver, and bronze, is the rustic gate of a country cot-
tage, overhung by pine-trees, and standing among
feathery grasses of autumn. The tender restfulness
of the picture is delightful. On the back are these
lines : —

1 The plum-blossom is the emblem of spring.
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JAPAN

" One are our hearts, my wife's and mine.
Beyond the reach of withering years,
Beyond the sound of falling tears,
To skies spring sunshine always fills
The music of our love notes thrills,
Through the linked branches of the pine." l

Reference may finally be made to a kozuka and a
kogai chiselled by Watanabe Hisamitsu, a prominent
representative of the popular school. Here the de-
signs correspond exactly with pictures by Kiyonaga or
Utamaro. On the copper face of the kozuka, chis-
elled in relief, is the celebrated " lady of the green
hall," Takao. She is magnificently apparelled, and
gold, sbakudOj silver, and shibuichi are used with the
most refined skill to indicate the rich brocades and
crepes that she wears. On the kogai the same cour-
tesan is shown in gentle dalliance with the ascetic
Daruma. The backs of the kozuka and kogai alike
are of shibuichiy carrying the following inscriptions : —

Buddha sells doctrine. The expounder sells Buddha. The
priest sells the expounder. You sell your five feet of
body to nurture the lusts of humanity. Green is the
willow ; crimson the flower ; many-coloured the ways of
the world."

" A thousand nights, a thousand eves,
The soft moon sails the lake above ;
No trace of her caresses leaves,
In the cold depths no ray of love."

In this century the Hirata family — spoken of
already as the first to employ verifiable enamels in
the decoration of sword-mounts — had its greatest
master in the person of Harunari. One of his pupils,

1 The pine-tree is one of the emblems of longevity.
308

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

Uchino Harutoshi (art name, Ichigenshi), was scarcely
less celebrated, and four others helped, in a lesser
degree, to perpetuate his fame. Later in the century
Yedo produced an artist of the very highest skill,
Kano Natsuo. He worked from 1850 to 1895,
and certainly deserves to be called one of the most
admirable chisellers of incised designs that Japan
has known in any era. Natsuo learned the art, from
Aoka Harutsura, of Kyoto, himself a skilled ex-
pert ; and Harutsura's teacher, Kajutsura, deserves to
be mentioned as an exceptionally successful chiseller
of insects. Natsuo's early works were chiefly chiselled
in medium relief. His range of subjects was wide.
He could represent a group of autumn flowers, a spray
of plum, or a tiny insect as skilfully as a mythological
figure or a historical scene. After fame and pros-
perity had come to him, he ceased to carve in relief,
and confined himself to incised and kata-kiri chisel-
ling, with results of which it would be difficult to
write in too laudatory a strain. He did not easily
accept an order or make any effort to produce largely.
Genuine specimens of his work are therefore rare,
and when one comes into the market, it is purchased
by Japanese connoisseurs at a great price. Contem-
porary with Natsuo in the latter's early years was
Honjo Yoshitane, of Yedo. He not only chiselled
the mounts of swords but also forged their blades, and
he is placed by his countrymen in the very foremost
rank of artists. Yamagawa Koji, of Kanazawa (in
Kaga), was another of the most prominent figures in
the nineteenth century. He worked from 1830 to
1877, chiefly in the kebori and kata-kiri styles, and in
his later years he received the name of " Kanazawa
Somin " in recognition of his great abilities.

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JAPAN

The Mito school was very active in the first half
of the century. Several well-known experts were
connected with it — as Kivaizantei (Motomichi) and
his numerous pupils ; Ontaiken (Motochska) ; Cbooken
(Motonari) ; Tosuiken (Sadahisa), and others. The
workshops in Aizu also turned out many specimens,
but what has already been said of Mito and Aizu
work in earlier times applies to the productions of the
nineteenth century also : it was decorative rather than
artistic. Many other names might be set down ;
notably those of Yoshioka Tadatsugu, of Yedo, whose
pupils constituted a large and brilliant group ; Tanaka
Kiyohisa, of Yedo ; Okano Kijiro, of Yedo, widely
known under his art name of Toriusaj, whose repro-
ductions of some of the choicest old masterpieces are
probably treasured by many Occidental collectors as
originals; Kawarabayashi Hidekuni (i 860), of Kyoto ;
and Oda Noaki (1830), of Satsuma, a splendid chis-
eller of decoration a jour. But the task of discrimina-
tion becomes exceedingly difficult in the nineteenth
century, for although the general level of expert skill
was higher than it had been in any previous era, few
artists can be said to have attained conspicuous pre-
eminence. An immense number of fine specimens
were produced during the first seventy-five years of
the century, and it is probable that if a careful exam-
ination were made of the best collections of Japanese
sword-mounts in Europe and America, a great major-
ity of the examples they comprise would be found to
date from the epoch 1/70 to 1780.

Special mention must be made of a group of five
artists — Shuraku, Temmin, Riumin, Minjo, and Min-
koku — who, in 1864, formed a guild (called go-m'n-
gumi} for the purpose of producing objects beyond the

310

S W O R D-F U R N I T U R E

strength of other experts. Their style was chiefly
kata-kiriy and in addition to sword-furniture they
turned out a quantity of kana-mono, that is to say,
minor metal work of all descriptions. These men
were all of the highest force.

311

Chapter IX

SPECIAL SUBJECrS

NO special reference has hitherto been made to
a class of experts who performed prepara-
tory work for glyptic artists. These were
called uchi-mono-shi y or hammerers. Some-
times their names were cut upon a specimen side by
side with those of the chisellers, but, as a rule, their
work, being of a subordinate character, received no
such recognition. Nevertheless their skill was often
remarkable. Using the hammer only, some of them
justly claimed ability to beat out an intricate shape as
truly and delicately as a sculptor could carve it with
his chisels. Ohori Masatoshi, an uchi-mono-shi of
Aizu (D. 1897), made a silver cake-box in the form
of a sixteen-petalled chrysanthemum. The shapes of
the body and of the lid corresponded so intimately
that whereas the lip could be slipped on easily and
smoothly, without any attempt to adjust its curves to
those of the body, it always fitted so closely that the
box could be lifted by grasping the lid only. Another
feat of his was to apply a lining of silver to a shakudo
box by shaping and hammering only, the fit being so
perfect that the lining clung like paper to every part
of the box. Among the uchi-mono-shi now living,
there is none that Japanese connoisseurs recognise
as fully the peer of Masatoshi, but it must be con-
fessed that the work of such men as Suzuki Gensuke
and Hirata Soko does not seem capable of being sur-

312

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

passed. Hirata Soko recently exhibited in Tokyo a
silver game-cock with soft plumage and surface-mod-
elling of the most delicate character. It had been
made by means of the hammer only.

Suzuki Gensuke's name is associated with a tour-de-
force which not only shows high skill but also gives
very beautiful results. It is a process called kiri-bame
(insertion). The decorative design, having been com-
pletely chiselled in the round, is then fixed in a field of
different metal in which a design of exactly similar out-
line has been cut out en bloc. The result is that the
picture has no blank reverse. For example, on the sur-
face of a shibu-ichi box-lid are seen the backs of a flock
of geese chiselled in silver, shakudo, and gold, and when
the lid is opened, their breasts and the under-sides of
their pinions appear. The difficulty of such work
can be easily appreciated. It is necessary that micro-
scope accuracy should be attained in cutting out the
space for inserting the design, and further that the
design should be soldered firmly in its place, while
not the slightest trace of the solder, or the least sign
of junction, must be discernible between the metal of
the inserted picture and that of the field in which it is
suspended. Suzuki Gensuke is not the only expert
who works in this style, but to him it owes its
origin.

In order to avoid confusion of nomenclature it will
be well to refer here to another kind of work
called kiri-kame-zogan (inserted inlaying). Of this
the originator was Toyoda Koko. The gist of the
process is that a design chiselled a jour has its outlines
veneered with some other metal which serves to
emphasise them. Thus, having pierced a spray of
flowers in a thin sheet of shibuichi, the artist fits a

JAPAN

slender rim of gold, silver, or shakudo into the petals,
leaves, and stalks. The rim has to be fitted exactly so
that it shall seem to be a natural growth, not an
artificial addition. The effect produced is that of
transparent blossoms tipped with gold, silver, or dark-
purple shakudo. Another achievement of Suzuki
Gensuke is designated maze-gane, or " mixed metals."
It is a singular conception, and the results obtained
depend largely on chance. Shibuichi and shakudo are
melted separately, and when they have cooled just
enough not to mingle too intimately, they are cast
into a bar (called namako] which is subsequently
beaten flat. The plate thus obtained shows acci-
dental effects of clouding, or massing of dark tones, and
these patches are taken as the basis of a pictorial
design to which final character is given by inlaying
with gold and silver. Such pictures partake largely
of an impressionist character, but they attain much
beauty in the hands of the Japanese artist with his
large repertoire of suggestive symbols.

Yet another device practised by Suzuki Gensuke is
to mix two kinds of shibuichi, and having beaten them
together, to add a third variety, after which the
picture is completed by putting in rocks, trees, birds,
etc., by the kata-kiri process. This method did not
originate with Suzuki. It was employed by eigh-
teenth-century experts, who gave to it the name of
shibuicht-doshi. But Suzuki has carried it to a point
of unprecedented excellence. The charm of the
shibuichi-doshi and of the maze-gane processes is that
certain parts of the decorative design seem to float,
not on the surface of the metal, but actually within it,
an admirable effect of depth and atmosphere being
thus produced.

3'4

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

In describing the various processes of decorative
metal-work for sword furniture, reference was made
to sumi-zogan — or so-called " sepia-inlaying " —
which differs from ordinary inlaying in the fact that
the decorative design, instead of being produced
chiefly by means of gold or silver outlines, is first
chiselled in complete form and afterwards bedded in
the basic metal, its surface being finally ground down
and polished, so as to produce not only perfect in-
timacy between the metals, but also an effect of high
lights. The Japanese understood the value of lights
in sculpture of all kinds. Even in deeply incised
work like kata-kiri, one of their methods was to use
a specially sharp chisel in certain parts of the design
so as to convey the effect of polishing. The " sepia-
inlaying " is a marked example of this theory, a
peculiar glossiness being obtained by the high light
of the polished surface, just as the ancient Greeks and
Romans used to give to the nude parts of a statue a
considerable degree of polish. The most remark-
able development of the process is seen in the togi-
dashi-zogan (ground-out inlaying) invented by Kajima
Ippu. In this exquisite and ingenious kind of work,
the design appears to be growing up from the
depths of the metal, and effects are produced which
render it scarcely possible to believe that the picture
has not been painted with the brush on some pe-
culiarly receptive surface. As to the technique of
togi-dashi-zogan, the metal — generally shibuichl —
is first treated as though for nunome damascening, the
principal and secondary designs being carefully out-
lined. It is then passed through the furnace until it
assumes a coppery hue, after which the design is
overlaid with a thin film of ao-gin (specially prepared

JAPAN

gold), which bites into the nunome, and then with a
wafer-like layer of silver. Next another equally
slight coat of silver is beaten over the whole surface,
the result being that the design shows out with a faint
golden hue in a silver field, the detail, however, not
being discernible, and the picture looking as though
the artist had roughly dashed in a rudimentary design
with light-gold pigment. The next step is to ham-
mer or punch the details of the design so as to em-
phasise them, and finally the- expert proceeds to
polish the surface with strips of toishi (honing stone)
bound together into a brush. The use of this pe-
culiar instrument is tedious and demands delicate
manipulation. Thus the various layers of metal are
gradually ground down until the design emerges
showing tints of all the metals employed — shibuichi,
gold and silver. The shibuichi outlines assume the
appearance of sepia drawing, and the general effect
is that of a sepia picture in a silver field with a flush
of gold looking out here and there. An impression
of atmosphere and of water is obtained by this pro-
cess with remarkable realism. Fishes appear to be
swimming in silver water, some in the foreground,
some in the background, and some in the middle-
distance, and so perfect is the illusion that the body
of a fish is sometimes seen partially emerging, par-
tially disappearing, in the silvery fluid ; flowers and
sprays appear glowing in sunlight ; birds beat the
air with their wings, and landscapes lie bathed in soft
hazes. The process not only entails great labour, but
also demands an exercise of skill which does not ap-
pear to be within reach of any of the artists of the
present day except Kajima Ippu.

Any account of metal-work in Japan must include

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

the uses to which pewter was put. Japanese pewter
resembled that of England, being composed of eighty
parts of tin to twenty of lead, without any antimony,
zinc, nickel, arsenic, or cobalt. In China this alloy
seems to have been employed from time immemorial,
and although the first authentic reference to pewter
in Japan does not take the student back farther than
the second half of the eighth century A. D., the fact
then recorded is not the introduction of the metal,
but the substitution of Japanese tin for Chinese in
its composition. The earliest purposes to which it
was applied were to inlay lacquer in combination
with mother-of-pearl and to make rims for lacquer
boxes. By and by it began to be employed for mak-
ing vessels — especially those used at marriage cere-
monies— and it was then sometimes inlaid with
gold, silver, brass, or even bronze. Many pewter tea-
canisters are found, as well as vase-shaped wine bottles
for placing before Shinto shrines. These tea-jars were
frequently of very beautiful form and had cleverly
executed decorative designs incised or pierced. The
most interesting feature, however, of Japanese pewter
is its patina. It has been shown that " when an alloy
is in the act of cooling, several definite alloys, in
which the molecules of the metal are differently
grouped from those of the mass, fall out at definite
temperature, so that the solidified metal does not con-
sist really of one alloy, but is a mixture of several,
more or less regularly diffused throughout its mass."
This property is especially marked in the case of
pewter. The Japanese had no thermo-electric pyro-
meter to enable them to discover it, but they detected
it by observation sufficiently to take practical advan-
tage of it. Thus their pewter jars have a very fine

JAPAN

surface consisting of dark grey patina over which
darker patches are scattered, forming a clouded
pattern. Some of these utensils are very valuable,
more so even than the same weight of silver, espe-
cially when the mottlingis uniform and well developed.
The vessel is never polished, but only rubbed from
time to time with cotton or silk cloth, the result
being that the surface gradually becomes coated with
a fine grey patina of two tints, the lighter forming
the ground. The action of the air and the gentle
rubbing make visible one or more of the alloys which
have fallen out in cooling.1

Reference must also be made to a recently intro-
duced alloy consisting of eighty-five parts of lead and
fifteen of antimony. The compound is largely used
to manufacture cheap and gaudy utensils, such as
flower-vases, cigar-trays, tobacco-ash-holders, etc.,
which are loaded with decorative designs in the re-
pousse style, gilded in parts or otherwise coloured.
This " antimony ware " is cast in brass moulds. Its
effect is not unpleasing, but it can scarcely be classed
among art-products. The inventor (1885) was Su-
zuki Kichigoro.

The Japanese artist, or artisan, may be generally
described as modest, unassuming, and unavaricious.
The gain that his works bring is the last thing he con-
siders. Affluence comes to him rarely, but to gird at
the companionship of poverty would be to proclaim
himself not an artist but a tradesman.2 The records
of all these men and the traditions relating to them
indicate the prevalence of a rooted belief that to be
great in art a lofty and benevolent disposition is
essential. Kaigyokusai's habit of giving away all his

1 See Appendix, note 48. 2 See Appendix, note 49.

318

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

money in charity was regarded as an indication of
his artistic sense, and it is confidently believed that
Yasumoto Kamekichi's carving is inferior to that of
Matsumoto Kisaburo because the latter was profusely
generous whereas the former has none of the milk of
human kindness. The Japanese artist is content to
work amid the humblest surroundings and to live in
the most frugal manner. He attaches no special
value to the products of his skill, regarding them
merely as studies preparatory to better efforts. Many
art-artisans rose to fame from the lowliest positions.
Teijo was originally a barber ; Kuribara Keishi kept
a bean-curd booth ; Okazaki Sessei served as a com-
mon menial in his youth. Innumerable instances of
that kind might be quoted, but there is not any exam-
ple of an artist who was ashamed of his insignificant
beginnings. Shame seems to have been confined to
association with inferior work. Hojutsu, the cele-
brated ivory-carver, destroyed many works on the eve
of completion, and it was Zengoro Hozen's habit to
bake three examples of every fine piece of pottery or
porcelain, keeping only the best of the three and
breaking the other two.

With regard to the training of the art-artisan, it
was generally obtained by apprenticeship in the atelier
of some master. Naturally there were cases of men
who began to work without any instruction. Matsu-
moto Kisaburo commenced his career by making a
statue of an idiot woman whom he saw begging in
the streets of Kumamoto ; Ikko was counted an im-
becile up to the age of nineteen, but subsequently
became a famous carver without studying under any
master; Ogino Shomin, Tomochika, Hojutsu, all
were denied the advantage of a teacher, and Itao

JAPAN

Shinjiro had not received any training when he exe-
cuted his first work, a model of a foreign steamer
which he saw coming into port. The general rule,
however, was a long apprenticeship. The sculptor
of wood commenced his course in the atelier by chis-
elling a decorative pattern of formal type, in order
that he might acquire skill in spacing. He then
passed to the carving of floral scrolls, especially the
leaves of the asa (hemp-plant). The next stage was
to shape a Daikoku deity of affluence and then an
Tebisu (deity of fortune). These figures were in the
form known as deki-ai-butsu (ready-made Buddha) :
the hands and arms were not shown and the drapery
was roughly blocked out. Thereafter the student passed
to the chiu-butsu (middle-class Buddha), showing the
hands and arms ; and finally he arrived at the jobutsu
(first-class Buddha), complete in every detail. This
course occupied from seven to ten years, and the
student was now regarded as tcbinm-maye, or an adult
artisan. Under no circumstances was he allowed to
use rule or compass : everything had to be done by
eye. The modeller in wax for purposes of bronze-
casting, equally with the sculptor of metal or wood,
had no guide except a sketch drawn by himself or
furnished by some pictorial artist. There was no
question of pins to map out the surface, or of a
pointer to transfer contours. Further, it was always a
supreme test of the artist's skill that he should be able
to achieve the desired result with a minimum of labour.
Thus the ivory-carver Tomochika received applause
for his ability to block out a statue by means of a hatchet
only,1 finishing it off with the knife (pgatana) ; whereas
lesser experts used the kogatana from the first.

1 See Appendix, note 50.

320

SWORD GUARDS. PLATE TT.

1 4

By Nara Toshihisa. By Nara Toshihisa.

2 5

By Umetada Shlgeyoshl. By Nara Toshlharu.

3 6

By Yanagawa Naomasa By Miyochin Muneakira.

7
By Yokaya Somin

(See page 296.)

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

In a great majority of cases the Japanese art-artisan
deemed it essential that he should go through a
course of pictorial training in the studio of some
famous artist ; that he should study the composition
of poems, and that he should be versed in the cult of
the tea-clubs as well as in the science of flower-
arranging and incense-judging. The possession of
these accomplishments did not, however, interfere
with his discharge of the rougher duties of his craft.
It will often be found that a man working daily as a
common carpenter or joiner can not only design and
execute, but also sketch with accuracy and grace, an
elaborate decorative composition.

As to the source from which the Japanese sculptor
obtained designs, it is probably correct to say that, as
a general rule, he relied on the pictorial artist. This
statement does not apply, of course, to all the great
masters of early, mediaeval or modern times. It is
recorded that Takahashi Kinai fell into disgrace
because he sold a hen supplied as a model by the
feudal chief of Echizen ; that the same artist refused
to chisel a centipede on a sword-guard because he had
already committed the sin of killing dozens of these
insects for the purposes of a previous carving ; that
Kogitsune sat for ten days and nights in the open air
at Mukuni in order to see a dragon in a whirlwind ;
that Natsuo placed a peony in his garden as a study
but found no inclination to chisel a copy of the
flower until he chanced to see it, one day, tossed by
the wind. These and many other instances showed
that renowned experts often went direct to nature for
models. On the other hand it is recorded with at
least equal frequency that recourse was had to con-
temporary painters even by the greatest masters, and

VOL. VII. - 21

JAPAN

the conclusion is that the average sculptor, especially
in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, seldom
looked beyond the pages of some album of designs
drawn by pictorial celebrities.

It is the more necessary to insist upon the high
moral character of the Japanese artist or art-artisan
because Americans and Europeans seldom have an
opportunity of judging him by direct intercourse.
There is always a middle-man whose cupidity reacts
upon the artist's reputation. Nor can it be denied
that his relations with the modern middle-man as
well as the greatly changed nature of the clients
whose tastes he has to consult have more or less im-
paired the art-artisan's morals. In former times, the
sculptor of sword-furniture, for example, had direct
contact with the great nobles, statesmen, and soldiers
of his time. He received art-titles venerated since
the earliest epochs ; he was munificently rewarded
by official recognition if he made any signal success ;
his fame was not merely his own but belonged also
to the fief claiming his allegiance ; a liberal pension
placed him beyond the chill of poverty and enabled
him to devote the labour of love to his work. All
these conditions underwent a radical alteration after
the fall of feudalism. The numerous principalities
which had supported their own artists and vied with
one another to attract and retain the best skill in each
era, ceased to exist. The patrician class, munificent
and appreciative patrons of art in all ages, stepped
down from their commanding positions to make way
for the merchant and the manufacturer. The repre-
sentatives of the feudal nobility ceased to maintain
throughout the empire splendid dwellings — palaces
they might be called — for whose interior adornment

322

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

the services of the artists had always been in keen
request. The sword and all its trappings, the suit of
armour and its elaborate decoration, which during
long centuries had offered an unlimited field for the
exercise of glyptic skill, were discarded permanently.
The temple and the mausoleum no longer demanded
the services of sculptors, metal-workers, lacquerers,
architects, and painters. To keep in even partial
repair a few of these magnificent structures seemed to
overtax the liberality of a generation whose fore-
fathers had bequeathed to them such noble monu-
ments of art and refinement. Virtually the only
clients that offered themselves under the new regimen
were foreigners, to whom Japanese art was an un-
known land ; whose standards of excellence were
greatly at variance with Japanese standards ; who in
most cases approached every Oriental production with
a strong pre-disposition to hold it in light esteem,
and to insist that wherever its features differed from
their own tastes, the fault lay with the features, and
who generally regarded the whole question from a
mercantile point of view, preferring to dispense with
really fine artistic qualities rather than to obtain them
at the risk of trafficking in costly articles. It will be
understood that these remarks apply mainly to
foreign communities who settle in Japan for com-
mercial purposes, and only in a limited degree to
connoisseurs in Europe and America. The former
certainly helped to find a market for a certain class
of Japanese art-products in the years immediately
subsequent to the fall of the old system. But for
a long time it was a market which exercised a most
vitiating influence on those that catered for it. The
foreign exporter worked through the Japanese middle-

JAPAN

man, and by the latter, generally an ill-educated,
vulgar person, artists and art-artisans were taught to
interpret in undeservedly low terms the requirements
of the foreign trader and, vicariously, the tendencies
of foreign taste. They were taught something else
also. It became their business to devote the resources
of their skill not merely to imitating, but also to
forging, the works of the old masters. Imitation is
fair enough so long as it is frank ; but when its pur-
pose is to pass off a counterfeit for a genuine object,
the artist himself suffers more than the purchaser.
The latter acquires at any rate a specimen of fine
workmanship, but the former learns to think that
successful simulation is the highest aim of his art, that
it is hopeless to win fame by his own unequivocal
efforts, and that, even though conscious of being able
to surpass the masters whose productions he is required
to imitate, he must subserve his talents to the demands
of an avaricious middle-man and an undiscerning pub-
lic. The science of forgery in Japan was not invented
in modern times. The reader has seen that among
the noted experts of former eras, some are remem-
bered for their skill in re-producing old masterpieces.
Craft of that kind will always be practised so long as
humanity is human. But in no pre-Meyi period did
there exist an organised conspiracy to deceive the
public ; its discovery would have been inevitable.
The element needed to make such a thing possible
was a foreign market. The foreign buyer is an ideal
victim. He has no direct access to the artist and
cannot form any accurate conception of the latter's
capacities or make any scrutiny into the methods he
is pursuing. The statements of the middle-man are
his gospel — statements transmitted through an inter-

324

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

preter who himself takes an interested hand in the
game. Add to this that the average foreign tourist
carries with him to Japan, and the average foreign
resident retains throughout his sojourn there, a secret
conviction that art-treasures are lying around waiting
to be picked up by any really astute gleaner, and that
the gathering must be done privately lest others enter
the field. The situation is perfectly gauged and adroitly
exploited by the Japanese middle-man. He knows
well that the pride of acquisition influences many
collectors more than the merit of a specimen, and
that nine bric-a-brac hunters out of every ten are ready
to be persuaded that fortune treats them with special
favour, and that for them alone gems of applied art
have been waiting swathed in brocade and laid by in
the recesses of a dealer's strong room. Some of the
best experts are in the exclusive employment of
a middle-man. They obey their employer reluctantly
but faithfully, and at his request devote their abilities
to forging " old masterpieces " with which he de-
lights credulous collectors. It does not follow that
the collector is seriously victimised. The specimens
he acquires are almost if not quite as good from an
artistic or a technical point of view as the originals
they simulate, and though more costly than frankly
modern objects, they are cheaper than genuine old
ones. The artist is the chief sufferer, since he is
obliged to efface himself for the sake of a fraud, and
the art since its progress is checked for the sake of
dishonest gain. Fortunately this evil state of affairs
is disappearing. A new class of middle-men have
appeared who eschew deception and rely upon clients
that patronise good work without regard to its
antiquity.

JAPAN

There are objects generally excluded by their na-
ture from the catalogue of art productions, but never-
theless often showing in Japan many fine features of
decorative sculpture. These are nail-hiders1 (kagi-
kakushi^ screen-mounts, door-pulls, drawer-handles,
and wardrobe hinges. When the Taiko built the
Palace of Pleasure at Fushimi and the Castle of
Osaka, the celebrated dilettante Kobori Masakazu
undertook to make designs for these objects, and
Kacho, an expert worker in metals, reproduced the
drawings in silver, gold, bronze, iron, shakudo and
shibuichi. Considering the great skill that had al-
ready been attained by sculptors of sword-furniture,
it is not wonderful that a metal-worker at the close
of the sixteenth century should have been able to
chisel nail-hiders in the form of daffodils with leaves
of silver and blossoms of gold, or door-pulls in the
shape of Crustacea, cherry-petals, junk-rudders, and
such things. But Kacho's productions, judged by
specimens preserved in the Kyoto Detached Palace,
were of a type that has seldom been surpassed by any
of the innumerable sculptors subsequently employed
in the decoration of Japanese interiors. He was fol-
lowed by a long line of skilled metal-workers down
to the present day, but their productions do not lend
themselves to any special analysis. Kacho is the first
artist whose name has been transmitted to posterity
in connection with work of this class, but there are
relics which show that the skill of the metal-chiseller
was employed for the architectural decoration of
interiors as early as the beginning of the twelfth
century. Notable examples are the gilt-bronze or-
naments of the ventilating panels at the temple

1 See Appendix, note 51.

326

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

Chiuson-ji (founded in 1109). In the centre are
plaques with repousse designs of phoenixes and angels,
and the borders have floral diapers, vajras, and bells
sculptured a jour. From such work to the use of
wood-carving for interior decoration, as seen in
temples and mausolea from the close of the six-
teenth century, the transition is easily conceived.

ENAMEL DECORATION

The term " enamel decoration " is here used to
indicate a design expressed by means of vitrified
pastes of various colours applied to a base usually of
metal but sometimes of wood or porcelain. Oxide
of lead and silica, mixed in the ratio of 35 to 50, ap-
proximately, with small quantities of lime and soda
and a very small admixture of magnesia, form the
paste, and colour is obtained by adding oxide of
copper, iron, cobalt, gold, tin, silver, antimony, or
some other substance. The paste thus produced is
of two kinds, translucid or opaque, and is applied to
the base in one of two ways, namely, by channelling
the parts of the design into which the paste is to be
inserted, or by framing them with thin ribbons of
metal. The former kind — /". e. where the spaces to
receive the enamel paste are recessed — is called cham-
pleve ; the latter is known as cloisonne. For these
terms the best English equivalents are, perhaps, " en-
causted " and " applied," respectively, but since the
French words are much more explicit and expressive,
they will be used here. Doubtless the champleve pro-
cess preceded the cloisonne, but in Japan, as in
Europe, there is no certainty on that point,

327 '

JAPAN

Neither is it possible to determine with any accu-
racy the time when the art of enamel decoration
began to be practised in Japan. Among the relics
of the Nara Court preserved in the Shoso-in there is
a mirror having on its back a floral design executed
in cloisonne enamel. The inclusion of this mirror in
the Sh'bso-in treasures shows that it dates from a
period certainly not later than the eighth century,
but connoisseurs are not agreed in regarding it as
Japanese workmanship. The cloisons, or metal rib-
bons framing the limbs of the designs, are of gold;
the colours of the enamels are blue, yellow, green,
and brown, and the edges of the cloisons project
above the paste, indicating that the surface of the
work was not ground down, or polished, after firing.

A few words have to be inserted here about the
technique of enamel decoration. The object to be
decorated having been fashioned in thin copper —
sometimes in gold or silver — is handed to the
enameller, or to a draughtsman, who traces on it
with Indian-ink a facsimile of the design to be exe-
cuted. The next step is to make the cloisons and
fix them in position. This is one of the most deli-
cate parts of the work. A narrow ribbon of copper
or gold is cut into sections of various lengths, and
these having been curved into the required form, are
soldered to the surface of the object so that the de-
sign is ultimately outlined by a thin wall, following
every line exactly and enclosing the space to be deco-
rated. The various enamel pastes are then packed
into the parts within this wall, and the vessel, having
been placed in the oven, is subjected to heat sufficient
to vitrify the pastes without affecting the metals form-
ing the base and the cloisons. It will of course be

328

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

understood that when the base is of wood, the enamel
design, separately manufactured, is inserted, when
complete, in the wood. The melting process re-
duces the volume of the enamel paste, so that, when
the vessel emerges from the oven after the firing,
the spaces within the cloisons are found to be only
partially filled. An additional quantity of paste has
to be inserted, and once more the object is placed in
the oven. This process has sometimes to be repeated
several times before the cloisonned spaces are suf-
ficiently full. Moreover, since all the pastes do not
fuse at the same temperature, there is here another
reason for independent firings, and risks are thus in-
troduced which sometimes prove fatal after an object
has been almost completed. Finally, the vitrified
pastes having completely filled the cloisonned spaces,
the whole surface is ground and polished with great
care until it becomes perfectly even and shows a soft
lustre. Thus finished, the enamel is known in Japan as
kazari-jippo (ornamental enamel). The grinding and
polishing process is often dispensed with, especially
when translucid pastes are employed. Enamel deco-
ration of the latter class is called nagashi-jippo (poured
enamel).

The term shippo (jippo in composition) literally
signifies " seven precious things." It was used origi-
nally to designate gold, silver, and various jewels
about the names of which there is some uncertainty.
In China the use of jewels to decorate vessels of
gold, silver, or bronze was practised at a remote epoch,
and to such objects the designation shippo was applied.
There can be little doubt that vitrifiable pastes were
soon employed as a substitute for jewels in this kind
of decoration, and that champleve enamelling thus

329

JAPAN

came into vogue, the cloisonne method being a subse-
quent modification. Unfortunately no distinctive term
was devised for the paste jewels. They also received
the name shippb, and a source of error was thus
introduced, later generations having no means of
discriminating whether a vessel described as being of
shippo had decoration of the " seven precious things "
or of vitrified enamels.

The mirror referred to above as forming part of
the Shoso-in collection dating from the eighth century *
has decoration in nagashi-jippo, namely, the unpolished
style, and is of comparatively crude manufacture. It
is the earliest known specimen of cloisonne enamel
preserved in Japan, but there can be little doubt that
vitrified pastes had been previously employed in the
same manner. Among the contents of the dolmens,
which certainly do not belong to a period more
recent than the fourth or fifth century of the Chris-
tian era, great quantities of coloured glass beads are
found, and it is thus evident that long before the
Shoso-in collection was formed, the Japanese under-
stood the manufacture of vitrifiable paste. But there
are apparently no means of determining the exact date
when champleve or cloisonne enamel had its origin in
Japan.

One thing, however, is certain ; namely, that until
the nineteenth century enamels were employed by
the Japanese decorators for accessory purposes only.
No such things were manufactured as vases, plaques,
censers, or bowls having their surface covered with
enamels applied either in the champleve or the cloisonne
style. In other words, none of the objects to which
European and American collectors give the term

1 See Appendix, note 52.

330

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

" enamels " was produced by a Japanese artist prior
to the year 1838. It is necessary to insist upon this
fact because one of the most notable exponents of
Japanese art, the late Mr. J. L. Bowes, who alone
has hitherto undertaken to discuss Japanese enamels
at any length, fell into the serious error of imagining
that numerous enamelled vessels which began to be
exported to Europe from the year 1865, were the
outcome of industry commencing in the sixteenth
century and reaching its point of culmination at the
beginning of the eighteenth. In his work " Japan-
ese Decorative Art," Mr. Bowes divided these objects
into three classes, " early, middle-period, and modern,"
and he subsequently supported his views in an elabo-
rately reasoned thesis called " Notes on Shippo."
There is not the slenderest ground for such a theory.1
It certainly seems somewhat strange that whereas
vases and censers of cloisonne enamel manufactured in
China came to Japan during the latter part of the
Ming era and throughout the whole of the Tsing —
in other words, from the sixteenth century to the
nineteenth — similar works were not executed by the
Japanese. The explanation is that these specimens
did not appeal strongly to Japanese taste : they never
won the approval of the tea-clubs, which was essen-
tial to the recognition of any object as an art treasure.
For such purposes as the decoration of kugi-kakushi
(metal ornaments used to conceal the heads of nails
in the interiors of houses), beads (djime^ and clasps
(kagami-buta or kana-mond) for pouches, recessed han-
dles of sliding-doors, or metal plates and caps on wood-
work, vitrifiable pastes, whether translucid or opaque,
seemed suitable. The artists employed by the Taiko

1 See Appendix, note 53.

33 i

JAPAN

to decorate the interior of the " Palace of Pleasure"
at Fushimi, and those engaged upon the mausolea
of the Tokugawa, used enamels very effectively
in subordinate positions. It has been suggested that
the work of this kind was entrusted by the Taikb
to Korean experts, and there is no doubt that the
process of cloisonne enamelling was well understood by
the Koreans in the sixteenth century, if not earlier.
They used twisted wire to form the cloisons, in which
respect their technique ranked below that of the
Japanese ; but they obtained finer colours, their pur-
ple especially being remarkable for purity and richness.
Considering how large a debt Japanese applied art
owed to Korean assistance at the close of the sixteenth
century, and considering that, with the exception of
the mirror of Shomu, mentioned above, there is
scarcely any evidence pointing to the use of cloisonne
enamels for decorative purposes in Japan prior to that
epoch,1 it would certainly be rash to dismiss the
theory of Korean instruction. Another suggestive
fact is that the employment of enamels in the decora-
tion of sword-furniture began at the same time. Its
originator was Hirata Hikoshiro (art name Doniri),
and the representatives of his family, down to modern
times, continued to use enamel in that way, their
productions finding considerable favour. Indeed, the
name " Hirata " became so intimately associated with
work of this nature that in later times an erroneous
theory found credence to the effect that Donin was
the inventor of cloisonne enamel in Japan. The only
credit justly belonging to the Hirata artists was that
they applied enamels to sword-furniture, and that
they alone could produce a white paste successfully.

1 See Appendix, note 54.

332

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

White enamel has always been the most difficult of
all the pastes to obtain perfectly pure, and purple
stands next on the list. Ability to produce a fine,
speckless white constituted the only specialty of the
Hirata family, and because they jealously guarded the
secret of the process, tradition magnified their share
in employing enamels generally. It is undeniable,
however, that they showed great skill in decorating
sword-furniture with vitrified pastes. They never
covered the surface of a sword-guard or a dagger-haft
with such ornamentation, but merely used the enam-
els to fill in floral designs, arabesques, scrolls, or
mosaics enclosed in small medallions. Generally the
pastes were polished (kazari-jipfb\ but occasionally
they were of the nagashi-jippo style. Nor were they
always fired in situ. A not uncommon method
(called ji-ita-jippo) was to complete the enamel design
independently and then embed it in the metal field.
By recourse to the latter device enamels could be
used for decorating lacquered objects having a wooden
base, and they were so used from the middle of the
eighteenth century, especially in the ornamentation
of inro (medicine-boxes suspended from the girdle).
It may be added that the vitrified pastes of the Hirata
family, and of other artists who freely imitated their
work and even used their signatures were some-
times opaque (doro-jippo) and sometimes translucid
(suki-jipfo).

Kaji Tsunekichi, a samurai of Owari fief, was the
first Japanese to manufacture cloisonne enamels of the
kind known in the Occident by this name ; that is to
say, plates, vases, and censers having the surface en-
tirely covered with vitrified pastes disposed in designs
by means of cloisons. Like many other samurai Kaji,

333

JAPAN

finding his official income insufficient for the wants
of his family, sought to supplement it by pursuing
a handicraft, and at twenty years of age — he was
born in 1802 — he took up the occupation of a metal-
plater. According to his own account of his career,
he chanced, in 1830, to read in a book of the six-
teenth century that the materials for shippo decoration
were coral, lapis lazuli, mother-of-pearl, agate, amber,
tortoise-shell, and rock-crystal. There was here no
question of vitrified pastes, but actually of the " seven
precious things." The idea suggested to Kaji Tsune-
kichi seems to have been that these substances were
actually used for making vitrifiable pastes, but his
misconception was corrected two years later by ex-
amination of a specimen of Chinese cloisonne enamel 1
which he obtained from a merchant, Matsuoka Kahei,
of Nagoya. He now applied himself with patient assi-
duity to work of this kind, and succeeded, in 1 839, in
making a plate, six inches in diameter, which he sold
to Matsuoka for five riyo. This achievement in-
spired still greater efforts. Various articles were
turned out, chiefly pen-rests, desk-screens, cups, and
such small specimens, and in 1839 he had the honour
of seeing his productions presented to the Tokugawa
Court in Yedo by the feudal chief of Owari as exam-
ples of the technical achievements of the fief. Orders
now came to Kaji and he enjoyed a time of compara-
tive prosperity. In 1853 he began to take pupils,
and made known the manufacturing processes to sev-
eral persons. Thus, during twenty years previous
to the re-opening of the country to foreign trade in
1857, cloisonne enamelling had been applied in the
manner now understood by the term, and when for-

1 See Appendix, note 55.

334

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

eign merchants began to settle in Yokohama in 1858,
several experts were working skilfully in Owari after
the methods of Kaji Tsunekichi. Up to that time
there had been little demand for enamels of large
dimensions, but when the foreign market called for
vases, censers, plaques, and such things, no difficulty
was experienced in supplying them. Thus, about the
year 1865, there commenced an export of enamels
which had no prototypes in Japan, being destined
frankly for European and American collectors. From
a technical point of view these works had much to
commend them. The base — usually of copper —
was as thin as cardboard ; the cloisons, exceedingly
fine and delicate, were laid on with care and accu-
racy ; the colours were even, and the design showed
artistic judgment. Two faults, however, marred the
work : first, the shapes were clumsy and unpleasing,
being, in fact, copied from bronzes where solidity
justified forms unsuited to thin enamelled vessels ;
secondly, the colours, sombre and somewhat impure,
lacked the glow and mellowness that give decorative
superiority to the technically inferior Chinese enamels
of the later Ming and early Tsing eras. Very soon,
however, the artisans of Nagoya (Owari), Yokohama,
and Tokyo — where the art had been taken up —
found that faithful and fine workmanship did not pay.
The foreign export merchant desired many and cheap
specimens for export rather than few and costly.
There followed then a period of gradual decline, and
the enamels exported to Europe were products of
a widely different character and of different makers.
The industry was threatened with extinction and would
certainly have dwindled to insignificant dimensions
had not a few earnest artists, working in the face of

335

JAPAN

many difficulties and discouragements, succeeded in
striking out new lines and establishing new standards
of excellence. The main features of this fresh de-
parture were, first, that the character of the decorative
designs was changed, and, secondly, that the quality
and range of the colours underwent great improve-
ment. Three clearly differentiated schools came into
existence. One, headed by Namikawa Yasuyuki, of
Kyoto, took for its objects the utmost delicacy and
perfection of technique, richness of decoration, purity
of design, and harmony of colours. The thin, clum-
sily shaped vases of the Kaji school, with their uni-
formly distributed decoration of diapers, scrolls, and
arabesques in comparatively dull colours, ceased alto-
gether to be produced, their place being taken by
graceful specimens technically flawless and carrying
designs not only free from stiffness but also executed
in colours at once rich and soft.

The next school may be subdivided, Kyoto repre-
senting one branch, Nagoya, Tokyo, and Yokohama
the other. In the products of the Kyoto branch the
decoration generally covered the whole surface of the
piece ; in the products of the other branch the artist
aimed rather at pictorial effect, placing the design in
a monochromatic field of low tone.1 Many exquisite
specimens of cloisonne enamels have been produced by
each branch of this school. There is nothing like
them to be found in any other country, and they
stand at an immeasurable distance above the works of
early Owari experts represented by Kaji Tsunekichi,
his pupils and colleagues.

The second of the modern schools is headed by
Namikawa 2 Sosuke, of Tokyo. It is an easily traced

1 See Appendix, note 56. 2 See Appendix, note 57.

336

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

outgrowth of the second branch of the first school,
just described ; for one can readily understand that
from placing the decorative design in a monochro-
matic field of low tone, which is essentially a pictorial
method, development would proceed in the direction
of concealing the mechanics of the art in order to
enhance the pictorial effect. Thus arose the so-called
" cloisonless enamels" (musen-jipfo). They are not
always without cloisons. The design is generally
framed, at the outset, with a ribbon of thin metal,
precisely after the manner of ordinary cloisonne ware.
But as the work proceeds the cloisons are hidden, —
unless their presence would contribute to give neces-
sary emphasis to the design, — and the final result is
a picture in vitrified enamels. This remarkable tour
de force has created some discussion. There are those
that question whether the principles of true art are not
violated when an attempt is made to produce pictorial
effects by the aid of such materials as vitrified pastes.
The purist may find that objection unanswerable.
Yet it seems to be opposed to the practice of artists
in all ages. Neither in ancient nor in modern
Europe has any canon been obeyed that sets limits to
the range of decorative motives. If the sculptor may
apply to a frieze or the keramist to a vase subjects of
which the technical and artistic quality is estimated
by their fidelity to nature, why should similar latitude
be denied to an artist working with enamels ? At
all events it is certain that fine specimens of musen-
jippo are beautiful objects. They are imperishable
pictures in vitrified pastes, remarkable as to technical
skill, harmonious and at the same time rich in colour-
ing, and possessing pictorial qualities which could not
reasonably have been looked for in such material.

VOL. VII. 22 O -77

JAPAN

The characteristic productions of the third among
the modern schools are monochromatic and trans-
lucid enamels. All students of the keramic art know
that the monochrome porcelains of China owe their
beauty chiefly to the fact that the colour is in the
glaze, not under it. The keramist finds no difficulty
in applying an uniform coat of pigment to porcelain
biscuit and covering the whole with a diaphanous
glaze. The colour is fixed and the glaze set by sec-
ondary firing at a lower temperature than that neces-
sary for hardening the pate. Such porcelains lack
the velvet-like softness and depth of tone so justly
prized in the genuine monochrome, where the glaze
itself contains the colouring matter, pate and glaze
being fired simultaneously at the same high tempera-
ture. It is apparent that a vitrified enamel may be
set to perform, in part at any rate, the function of
a porcelain glaze. Acting upon that theory, the
experts of Tokyo and Nagoya have produced, during
recent years, many very beautiful specimens of mono-
chrome enamels, — yellow (canary or straw), rose du
Barry, liquid-dawn red, aubergine purple, grass or
leaf green, dove-grey, and lapis lazuli blue. These
pieces do not quite reach the level of Chinese mono-
chrome porcelains, but their inferiority is not marked.
The artist's great difficulty is to hide the metal base
completely. A monochrome loses much of its attrac-
tiveness when the colour merges into a metal rim, or
when the interior of a specimen is covered with crude,
unpolished paste. But to spread and fix the paste
so that neither at the rim nor in the interior shall
there be any break of continuity or any indication
that the base is metal not porcelain, is a tour de force
demanding extraordinary skill.

338

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

The translucid enamels of the modern school are
generally associated with decorated bases. In other
words, a suitable design is chiselled in the metal base
so as to be seen through the diaphanous enamel. Very
beautiful effects of broken and softened light combined
with depth and delicacy of colour are thus obtained.
But the decorative designs which lend themselves to
such a purpose are not numerous. A gold base deeply
chiselled in wave-diaper and overrun with a paste of
aubergine purple, is among the most pleasing. A
still higher tour de force is to apply to the chiselled
base designs executed in coloured enamels, finally
covering the whole with translucid paste. Admirable
results are thus obtained. Through a medium of
cerulean blue bright gold-fish and steel-backed carp
appear swimming in silvery waves, or brilliantly
plumaged birds seem to soar among fleecy clouds.
The artists of this school show also much skill in
using enamels for purposes of subordinate decoration
— for example, suspending enamelled butterflies, birds,
floral sprays, etc., among the reticulations of a silver
vase chiselled a jour (this kind of work is called
hirado-jipfo} ; or filling with translucid enamels parts
of a decorative scheme sculptured in iron, silver, gold,
or sbakudo.

The reader will perceive at once what great strides
Japanese workers in cloisonne enamels have made since
the days when they sent to Europe specimens such
as those carefully classified and illustrated in " The
Decorative Arts of Japan." It is not incorrect to say
that the art of cloisonne enamelling in Japan was
developed during the last quarter of the nineteenth
century from a condition of comparative crudeness1

1 See Appendix, note 58.

339

JAPAN

to one of unparalleled excellence. There was no
reason to anticipate that the Japanese would take the
lead of the world in this branch of applied art. They
had no presumptive title to do so. Yet they cer-
tainly have done so.

There has been discussion among Occidental con-
noisseurs about the relative merits of the cloisonne
enamels of China and Japan. It has been main-
tained that Japanese productions look sombre and
flimsy, and that the advantage is with the Chinese in
restful solidity, as well as depth, purity, and harmony
of tone. The criticism appears just so long as Japan
is represented solely by the works of the school
founded by Kaji Tsunekichi and maintained by his
pupils and successors down to the year 1880. But at
the latter date the Japanese expert entered an entirely
new field where he completely distanced his Chinese
rival. The artists of the two countries now work on
lines so different that accurate comparison is scarcely
possible. But it must not be assumed that the Jap-
anese expert would find difficulty in adopting the
Chinese methods. There has been practical proof
to the contrary. Between the years 1850 and 1870
Maizono Genwo of Kanazawa, a pupil of Kaji Tsune-
kichi and subsequently of a Chinese expert in Naga-
saki, produced several specimens of cloisonne enamels
in the pure Chinese style. They were of small
dimensions, chiefly sa&e-cups and bowls ; the cloisons
were of gold or silver, and the colour and quality of
the paste as well as the general technique were indis-
tinguishable from the finest Chinese work. Some
experts of the present time, also, have conceived the
idea of adding the Chinese style to their various
accomplishments and have succeeded thoroughly.

340

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LACQUER

It has been held by many critics that lacquered
objects stand highest among the products of Japan's
applied art, first because the quality of the lacquer as
to hardness, durability, and lustre, is unparalleled, and
secondly because the decorative genius of her artists
has been exercised in this field with most conspicuous
success and with marked independence of foreign
influence. Certainly the lustre of Japanese lacquer
appeals to the least educated eye, so much so that a
box or tray of fine black lacquer without ornamenta-
tion of any sort possesses an indescribable charm, and
tempts the spectator not merely to gaze at it, but
also to feel and caress it. Durability and hardness,
too, though they are not qualities that enter into a
normal estimate of beauty, have much to do with the
artistic developments of Japanese lacquer, for had it
not possessed these attributes, it could never have
been considered worthy of the magnificent and costly
decoration lavished upon it. It resists the action of
boiling liquids and of alcohol, so that a lacquered cup
can be used for tea, for soup, for hot sake, and in fact
for all table purposes, being in that respect equal to
porcelain, while it is superior to porcelain in security
against fracture and in non-conducting properties.
There are now standing in the Tokyo Museum of
Arts specimens of lacquer which, having lain at the
bottom of the sea for some years in a sunken steamer,
were found, when recovered, to still retain much of
their original beauty. And in the collections of
Japanese connoisseurs there are numbers of lacquered
objects many centuries old, which have withstood all

JAPAN

the effects of time, and are now as perfect as when they
emerged from their makers' hands. This admirable
durability, especially remarkable considering that the
base used by the lacquerer is wood of exceeding thin-
ness and frailty, must be attributed in part, of course,
to the preservative properties of the lacquer varnish
itself, but largely also to the skill of the experts by
whom these fine specimens were produced.

Japan derived the art of lacquer manufacture from
China. There can be no doubt of that. The tools
used in both countries are almost identical and the
methods have such a likeness that their common
origin is unquestionable. But as the time of the
art's introduction into Japan was pre-historical, the
date cannot be fixed accurately. Certainly, how-
ever, it was not later than the beginning of the
sixth century, and it will probably be right to
conclude that, like many other products of civilisa-
tion, this also came in the train of Buddhism. At
first the art does not seem to have extended beyond
the manufacture of plain bla-ck lacquer, but antiqua-
rians allege that from the early years of the eighth
century ornamentation with dust of gold and mother-
of-pearl began to be practised. There is a measure
of conjecture in this statement, for the oldest speci-
mens of artistic lacquer known to exist in Japan are
two boxes, one of which was made to order of the
celebrated priest Kuki, better known as Kobo Daishi,
at the close of the ninth century, for the purpose of
containing the Shingon Sutra which he had conveyed
from China, and the other is a receptacle for jewels
believed to date from approximately the same period.
Both objects are decorated after the manner called
maki-kin-lro ; that is to say, gold and silver dust hav-

342

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

ing been scattered over the surface of the lacquer, a
design is added, and the whole is then delicately
polished. The decorative motive of the jw/r^z-case is a
troop Qikaryobin (birds with angel's torsos) flying among
flowers ; that of the jewel-box is an elaborate floral
diaper. In the former the artist carefully followed
Chinese models ; in the latter he partially obeyed
the naturalistic tendency of Japanese genius. These
works show too much technical skill to be attributed
to the beginning of a period of art development, and
it seems a reasonable inference that lacquers simi-
larly decorated had been produced since an earlier
era.

The tenth century saw a further extension of the
range of motives : landscapes and religious scenes
began to be included in the lacquerer's repertoire.
It is on record that the Emperor Kwazan (985) exe-
cuted with his own hand a design of Horai-zan (the
mountain of elysium) on a lacquer writing-desk, and
there are authenticated specimens of twelfth-century
lacquer in which the decorative designs take the
forms of a figure of Shaka among flowers and birds,
of Arhats worshipping a dragon, of phoenixes, and
even of human figures. From the eleventh century,
also, the use of lacquer ceased to be limited to boxes,
desks, and minor objects of furniture: it was applied
to columns, beams, and other parts of the interiors of
temples, and the processes hitherto adopted were sup-
plemented by inlaying with mother-of-pearl and with
gold. The decorative artist now quickly passed to
elaborate and delicately executed landscapes as well as
intricate and tasteful designs, which he was certainly
able to depict with marked skill during the thirteenth
century, if not during the twelfth. He further em-

343

JAPAN

ployed incrustation with gold foil, and some speci-
mens dating from the Kamakura epoch show an
affinity with the pictorial scrolls of the time, their
decorative designs being chosen so as to illustrate
verses of poetry traced in golden ideographs beside
the picture. To the Kamakura era belongs also a
new departure, namely, the application of vermilion
lacquer to objects having their wooden surfaces carved
in diapers or arabesques. This kind of work —
called Kamakura-bori (Kamakura carving) — appears
to have been suggested by the red lacquer of China
which has designs cut in the lacquer itself. The
Kamakura-bori belongs to a palpably inferior grade of
work, but some interest attaches to it as it probably
helped to suggest an important development with
which the Ashikaga epoch is credited.

That development was the production of what is
called taka-maklye (lacquer in relief). Hitherto artists
had confined themselves to hira-makiye (flat lacquer),
that is to say, lacquer having the decorative design in
the same plane as the ground. The sole exception
had been the Kamakura-bori y just spoken of, in which
effects of relief were obtained by carving the wood to
which the lacquer was applied. Now, however, ex-
perts undertook surface modelling in the lacquer itself.
It is not possible to fix the exact date of this notable
addition to the art, but it certainly reached a point
of high development in the time of the Shogun Yoshi-
masa (1449—1490). There has been frequent occa-
sion to allude to Yoshimasa in these pages, and to the
extraordinary impulse that all branches of art received
from his establishment of the tea-clubs and from his
munificent patronage. The taka-makiye, which from
his era became famous, constitutes one of the distinc-

344

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

tive features of Japanese lacquer. It is not found in
the lacquers of either China or Korea. With it, in
that respect, may be classed aventurine lacquer, called
"pear-ground" {nashi-ji\ in Japan. This, too, has
never been produced elsewhere. Briefly, nashiji may
be described as a surface presenting the appearance
of golden sand pervaded by a faint glow of russet
brown. The gradual emergence of such a type from
the gold dusted fields of earlier epochs is not difficult
to conceive, but to the experts of Yoshimasa's era
belongs the credit of having indicated the possibilities
of this beautiful decoration.

No lacquerers prior to the days of Yoshimasa, that
is to say, the second half of the fifteenth century,
attained sufficient renown to be remembered by pos-
terity. Then for the first time the annals speak of
Hidetsugu of Nara, who constructed tea-boxes after
designs by the celebrated chajin Joo, and whose de-
scendants continued to work through several genera-
tions; of Hadagoro of Kyoto, whose lacquers were
known as Hokkai-nuri-mono from the name of the
locality where he resided ; of Koami Docho, who
obtained designs from Tosa Mitsunobu, from Noami
and from Soami, and who excelled in all the pro-
cesses of flat lacquer as well as lacquer in relief,
bequeathing his art to his descendants, of whom his
great-grandson Sozen, the latter's son Sokei, and his
grandson Sohaku were all famous lacquerers; of
Koami Dosei, the second of the Koami family ; of
Taiami and Seiami and of Igarashi Shinsai, who also
founded a long line of skilled artists. It is plain that
from the era of Yoshimasa — commonly spoken of in
art circles as " Higashi-yama " — the expert lacquerer
began to rank with the pictorial artist or the sculptor.

345

JAPAN

Until its closing years the sixteenth century showed
no marked progress in the process of lacquer produc-
tion, a fact doubtless attributable in the main to the
exceedingly disturbed state of the Empire. But when
the Taiko had restored peace, and had inaugurated the
fashion of lavishing all the resources of applied art on
the interior decoration of castles and temples, the ser-
vices of the lacquerer were employed to an extent
hitherto unknown, and there resulted some very fine
work on friezes, coffered ceilings, door-panels, altar-
pieces, and reliquaries. At first, when, tranquillity
having been established, the lacquer experts returned
to Kyoto from their retreats in the provinces, speci-
mens produced by them showed defects of technique,
and came to be classed for that reason under the name
of Karasumaru-mono, Karasumaru being the locality of
their manufacture. But the rapidly growing demand
for fine work in architectural decoration soon raised
the standard of skill, and all the processes of the
Higashi-yama era were employed with newly added
graces of design and excellency of finish. Surviving
specimens do not indicate that decoration in the taka-
makiye style (relief) was largely practised. The taste
of the time found more faithful expression in a new
fashion introduced by Anami Kwoyetsu (1590—1637),
of which the characteristic features were remarkable
boldness of decorative design, free use of conventional-
ised forms, and the employment of gold, silver, lead,
and mother-of-pearl in solid masses. This style re-
ceived fuller development at the hands of Ogata
Kworin, who is accounted one of the greatest decora-
tive artists of the seventeenth century. It must be con-
fessed, however, that the mannerisms of Kworin are
not always pleasing. His conventionalisms sometimes

346

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

become so extreme as to lose suggestiveness, and the
balance of his decorative scheme is disturbed by un-
duly large masses of metal or mother-of-pearl. When
he avoids these faults his work deserves the admira-
tion it received in his time, as well as the homage of
a numerous school of imitators down to modern eras.
Certainly prior to his epoch no expert of applied art
had formed any comparable conception of the effect
of skilful spacing and the charm of irregularly yet
symmetrically distributed decoration. Yet, even in
that respect, neither Kwoyetsu nor Kworin can be
called an originator. The source from which they
derived inspiration is easily discovered by any one ex-
amining the illuminated sutras of the twelfth century.
The Tokugawa times were the golden era of
lacquer production. Not only did the .universal
popularity of the tea-clubs and the incense cult
create a keen demand for the finest work, but also
the interior decoration of the mausolea at Shiba and
Nikko offered an unprecedented field for the art. In
these mausolea are to be found the most splendid ap-
plications of lacquered decoration that the world has
ever seen, nor is it at all likely that anything on a
comparable scale of grandeur and beauty will ever
again be produced. Japanese connoisseurs hold that
the summit of development was reached at the end
of the seventeenth century under the rule of the fifth
Shogun, Tsunayoshi (1680-1709), — that famous era
of Genroku, memorable for so much that was bad
and so much that was good in Japanese civilisation.
Such was the reputation acquired by work of that
time that whenever in later days a date had to be
assigned to any specimen of exceptionally fine quality,
the disposition of connoisseurs was to refer it to the

347

JAPAN

days of J5ken-in (the posthumous name of Tsu-
nayoshi). It cannot be said, however, that the art-
ists of the epoch had any new inspiration. With
the exception of Ogawa Ritsuo, they merely carried
the methods of their predecessors to the highest point
of technical excellence and decorative refinement.
Ritsuo, called also Haritsu, flourished during the first
half of the eighteenth century. He followed the
style of Kwoyetsu and Kworin in introducing masses
of metal into his decorative schemes, but he added
also ivory, and, above all, faience. It was for this
last addition chiefly that he became famous, for al-
though the idea of inlaying a lacquered surface with
faience medallions sounds bizarre, the effect was un-
questionably beautiful.

Many exquisite examples of lacquer are to be
found in inro produced during the Tokugawa times.
The inro, owing to its small size and comparative
cheapness, has attracted the attention of foreign col-
lectors, and numerous specimens of great beauty are
among the treasures of European and American dilet-
tanti. It shares with the netsuke the charm of offer-
ing an almost unlimited field of decorative motives, —
landscapes copied from great painters, battle-scenes,
incidents from daily life, from history and from my-
thology, birds and insects of every description, and
innumerable studies of flowers and foliage. Almost
all the renowned lacquerers from the sixteenth cen-
tury downwards occupied themselves, occasionally,
with the making of inro, but the artists of the Koma
and Kajikawa families, through several generations,
were especially connected with this class of work,
and their signatures are found most frequently.
Since, however, the inro is merely one of the objects

348

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

to which the lacquerer mainly devoted his attention,
everything that has been said of his art applies to it,
nor does it call for any separate discussion.

A frequently published assertion is that modern
Japanese lacquerers are far inferior to their predeces-
sors, and that nothing now produced will support
comparison with the work of bygone times. That
is an error. There has not been any loss of skill.
Shibata Zeshin, who died in 1891, was, perhaps, as
great an artist in lacquer as ever existed, and there
are men living to-day who have all the skill of the
best eras. The only change is in the conditions of
production. Fine lacquer is exceedingly costly. It
demands not only great outlay of expert toil, but also
the use of very expensive materials. The Japanese
art-artisan, however, is generally poor ; or, at any
rate, his circumstances are too humble to warrant the
expenditure of large sums on specimens which have
the less chance of finding a purchaser the higher their
price. All the finest pieces of former times were pro-
duced to order, whereas at present few persons are
disposed to give a commission, the tendency of those
that can afford to possess rich lacquer being rather to
seek old specimens of which the durability is already
guaranteed, than to take the risk of having new
made. But there has been abundant proof that the
experts of the time can do quite as skilled work as
any of their predecessors did.

In the manufacture of Japanese lacquer, three dis-
tinct processes have to be noted. The first is the
extraction and preparation of the lac; the second, its
application, and the third decoration of the lacquered
surface.1

1 See Appendix, note 59.

349

JAPAN

The lac is obtained from a variety of the sumach,
called in Japan urushi-no-ki (Rhus vernicifera ) . A
horizontal incision is made in the trunk of the tree,
and in a few minutes this channel becomes filled
with a greyish-white emulsion which, on exposure
to the air, changes to light brown and ultimately to
black. This juice may be taken from the tree at
any time from April to October, but midsummer
is the best season. The yield of one tree varies from
twenty-seven to fifty-four grammes, and to obtain that
quantity it is necessary to destroy the tree. It ap-
pears from official figures that at least a million trees
must be sacrificed annually to the needs of the manu-
facturer, and readers will not be surprised to learn that
of late years a demand has arisen for Chinese lac, which,
since it can be sold in Japan at a lower price than that
of the domestic product, is used for inferior classes of
work. According to analyses made by Korschelt and
Rein, the substance thus obtained from the lacquer-tree
contains from 60 to 85 per cent of lac acid (CuHisOa) ;
from 3 to 6^4 per cent of gum arabic ; from 1.7 to
3.5 per cent of albumen; and from 10 to 34 per
cent of water. To prepare it for use, it is first pressed
through cotton-cloth to remove extraneous bodies, —
as bits of bark, wood, etc. ; it is then ground in a
wooden tub for the purpose of crushing the grain
and obtaining uniform liquidity ; subsequently it is
again strained, and finally the water it contains is
expelled by exposure to the sun's rays or to artificial
heat.1 While the drying process is going on, various
ingredients are added according to the kind of
lacquer to be produced, — gamboge for nasbi-ji (pear-
ground) lacquer ; perilla oil and plum-juice for

1 See Appendix, note 60.

35°

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

shunkei (reddish-yellow) lacquer ; yegoma oil and cin-
nabar for shu-uruishi (red lacquer) ; acetous protoxide
of iron for ro-iro-urushi (mirror-black lacquer) ; dust
of gold or silver for kin-iro (golden) or gin-iro (silver)
lacquer ; and so on. The preparation of the lac up
to this stage is the function of a special class of
workmen, whose task ends when the liquid is ready
for use.

Passing now to the duties of the nuri-mono-shi, or
lacquerer, let it be supposed that the object to be
lacquered is a box made of hi-no-ki (Retinispora
obtusa), a white pine, which, owing to its fine grain and
freedom from knots and resin, is considered specially
suitable. The box having emerged from the hands
of a skilled joiner, its walls are as thin as paper and its
parts beautifully fitted. The lacquerer's first task is to
apply a lute, called kokuso, which consists of rice-paste
and lac mixed with fine cotton wadding. This he
pastes with a pointed spatula over all lines of join-
ing, wooden pin heads, knots, or other imperfections,
having previously pared down these places with a
knife. Next he spreads a thin coat of lac-sizing over
the whole surface, the object being to solidify the
latter by filling up the natural pores of the wood as
well as all accidental fissures. Then follows another
operation of luting, the putty used being compounded
of ground pottery, rice-paste, and lacquer. Each of
these processes is separated by an interval long enough
to thoroughly dry the lacquer. After the second
operation of luting, the surface is burnished to perfect
smoothness by means of a special kind of sandstone.
The next process is one of the most important. The
whole object is covered with a layer of Japanese paper
— the long-fibred variety known as mino-gami — or of

JAPAN

thin hempen cloth. To fix this covering, the surface
is painted with a thin pulp of rice-paste and lacquer,
and when the paper or cloth has been smoothly
pressed into this adhesive bed, a thin coat of lacquer
is applied. The danger of warping is thus effectually
averted, and exudations from the wooden surface are
prevented from reaching the ultimate coats of lacquer.
The surface of the paper or cloth is then subjected to
processes somewhat similar to those employed in the
case of the wooden surface. First it is over-spread,
once, twice, or even three times, with a putty of rice-
paste, lacquer, and pottery-dust, each coat, when dry,
being rubbed down with sandstone. Then another
kind of pulp — differing from the last in the proportion
of the ingredients and in the addition of pulverised
ochre — is laid on, and carefully polished after dry-
ing. Next follows a light coating of pure lacquer,
and then another application of " stiffening," the
putty in this case consisting of pulverised ochre and
lacquer with or without pottery dust. Indian ink is
now rubbed into the surface by means of a ball of
cotton, and thereafter black lacquer, specially pre-
pared, is applied with a flat brush, the object being
then carefully dried.1 A very troublesome and tedious
process ensues. It is that of "rubbing down." This
is done with a special kind of fine-grained charcoal.
Many days are devoted to the work, and the surface
finally obtained is perfectly smooth, lustreless, dark
grey, or greyish black. The preliminary operations
are now completed, and the object is ready to
receive whatever coats are destined to give it its final
appearance.

The reader will observe that in this method of

1 See Appendix, not 61.

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

preparation, the basic material disappears altogether
from view, and the lacquerer ultimately works on a
surface of paper or cloth. Such is not the invari-
able process, however. In two favourite varieties of
lacquer — kiji-nuri and shunkei-nuri — the grain of the
wood is shown, no veneer of paper or cloth being
employed. To produce these the wood is first " con-
solidated " by a pore-filling paste ; it is then covered
with pure translucid lacquer and polished. There-
after, in the case of the shunkei-nuri, a light coat of
yellow dust is applied, omitted in the case of kiji-nuri.
The latter presents the appearance of highly polished
mahogany or rosewood ; the former suggests maple.

An object which, by the various processes described
above, has developed a perfectly smooth, lustreless,
greyish-brown surface, is said to have reached the
" medium " stage (naka-nuri\ It may now be fin-
ished by the application of a single coat of lacquer,
without any subsequent burnishing, the result being
nuri-tatey the commonest kind of lacquer, so called
because the striations (tate) produced by the strokes
of the brush with which the last coat is applied,
are clearly visible. It may here be stated that in
fine lacquer no semblance of brush-marks should be
perceptible.

When the artisan desires to produce a better class
of lacquer than the nuritate, he has merely to expend
more material and more labour : additional coats of
lacquer and additional rubbing and polishing. All
this is only a question of patience and manual dex-
terity. Indeed, Japanese lacquers may be conven-
iently divided into " artisan lacquers " and " art
lacquers;'3 the former comprising all varieties that
owe their beauty solely to the quality of the ground

VOL. vii. — 23 oro

JAPAN

lacquer ; the latter, those distinguished by surface
decoration. Of the former there are many kinds,
from the monochromes — mirror-black, vermilion,
cinnabar, and other hues of red, yellow, brown, and
green — to grounds ornamented with dusting of gold,
silver, mother-of-pearl, tin, or bronze ; inlaid with
mother-of-pearl ; marbled ; grained like wood, and
so forth. Of the " art lacquers " also there are many
kinds, but the distinguishing feature of all is that
they have passed through the hands of the decorative
artist, and by him have been ornamented with pic-
tures which take them completely out of the rank of
mere technical excellence.

It is not necessary to dwell upon " artisan lacquers/'
Some of them are very attractive, but, after all, they
belong to the class of varnishes, and have little to do
with applied art.

The artist by whom the decoration of art lacquer
is undertaken has the name of maki-ye-shi, which
signifies " an expert that strews pictures." This term
is derived from the fact that strewing with dust of
gold was the earliest method of lacquer decoration.
At first the expert merely sprinkled gold powder
sparsely over the surface, subsequently polishing the
latter. Such lacquer was called heijin. The next
stage of progress gave the maki-kini-ro, in which gold
dust having been thickly strewn over a black field, a
coating of translucid lac was superimposed, careful
rubbing with charcoal and polishing being the final
steps. Sometimes the gold dust was sifted so thickly
that its particles lost their individuality, and a golden
ground (kiri-ji\ resulted, showing soft lustre and a
charming play of broken light. At a later era "pear-
ground " (nashi-ji)t or aventurine, was obtained by

354

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

strewing gold dust over a field of russet brown. The
most highly esteemed variety of nasbi-ji was termed
giyobu-nasbi-jiy after the name of the artist (Giyobu)
who invented it at the beginning of the eighteenth
century. In this variety the surface is evenly covered
with tiny squares of gold-foil, laid one by one in
their places, a work demanding infinite patience,
accuracy, and delicacy of manipulation. The sense
in which the term makiye-shl came to be applied to
the decorator of art lacquer will be plain from these
facts, indicating, as they do, that his task originally
was limited to sifting gold dust over the lacquer.

It may be stated as an almost invariable rule that
either kin-nashi-jiy kin-ji, or giyobu-nashi-ji is found asso-
ciated with the finest lacquer, whether it enters into
the decorative scheme, or appears on the reverse of
the object. A ground of golden wood-grain (kin-
moku-me), which costs the artist much trouble and
requires not less skill than the giybbu-nashi-ji, ranks
also among choice varieties of secondary decoration.
But the most difficult task of the maklye-shi is, of
course, the application of the decoration. The variety
of motives is virtually unlimited, ranging from elabo-
rate landscapes, sea-scapes, battle-scenes, figure sub-
jects, flowers, foliage, birds, insects, fish, and animals,
to formal designs of scrolls, arabesques, and diapers.
His palette includes several colours, — red, green,
blue, silver, and gold being the principal, — but in all
fine lacquers gold predominates so largely that the
general impression conveyed by the object is one of
glow and richness. Not infrequently the most elabo-
rate part of the decoration is found on some com-
paratively inconspicuous part of the object. This is
especially true of letter-boxes (bunko} and writing-

355

JAPAN

boxes (suzuri-bako), which with book-stands (shodana}
and medicine-boxes (inro) have in all ages been con-
sidered deserving of the makiye-shi s highest skill.
Thus it often happens that the decoration on the
outside of a bunko or a suzuri-bako is not nearly so
rich and elaborate as that on the inside of the lid.
At first sight such a distribution of skill seems a mere
caprice of luxury ; but the logic of the decoration
becomes evident by reflecting that when these boxes
are in use, the lids are always removed and placed
with their faces downwards on the mats, so that the
decoration on the reverse side is chiefly seen. Never-
theless it is an inviolable rule that every part of a
fine lacquer object must show beautiful and highly
finished work, whether it be an external or an
internal part.

As for the process of applying a decorative design,
the object first receives all the treatment, as already
described, necessary to produce a perfectly finished
ground, and upon the latter the makiye-shi sketches the
design, working with fine brushes and a paste of white
lead. Having thus obtained an outline drawing, he
fills in the details with gold and colours, superposes a
coat of translucid lacquer, and finally subjects the
whole to careful polishing. If parts of the design
are to be in relief (taka-makiye\ a putty is used for
foundation. It consists of black-lacquer, white lead,
camphor, and lampblack, and after being laid on the
surface of the object, it receives the necessary mod-
elling, is polished with charcoal, and thus enters into
the field for the decorative scheme. No special diffi-
culty attends the taka-makiye process, and the results
produced are wonderfully rich and effective. Many con-
noisseurs, however, will find at least equal beauty in fine

356

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

examples of bira-makiye (flat makiye}, especially those
distinguished as togi-dashi ; that is to say, pieces
where the pictorial design is brought out by repeated
processes of rubbing, so that all outlines disappear,
and the decoration seems to float in a field of semi-
translucid lacquer. When masses of metal or ivory
enter into the decorative scheme, they have to be
chiselled independently and afterwards embedded in
the lacquer. The same is true in a modified degree
of mother-of-pearl, though fragments are used to
build up designs with the aid of paste in a manner
not possible where metals are employed. The fashion
of mother-of-pearl mosaics was inspired from China,
and some work of that class shows almost incredible
microscopic accuracy. A majority of the lacquers
manufactured in modern times for the foreign market
have mother-of-pearl (from the shell of the baliotis)
and ivory in the decorative scheme. That style was
brought into vogue by Shibayama Dosho in the second
half of the eighteenth century. He cannot be said
to have invented it, but, as has been observed of many
other Japanese applied arts, the perfecting of the
method was mistaken for its origin. It would be
impossible to overstate the richness and decorative
magnificence of many objects manufactured in modern
workshops by combining lacquer grounds with elabo-
rately constructed designs in mother-of-pearl, ivory,
faience, gold, and silver. Screens, cabinets, boxes, and
plaques in this fashion have been sent abroad in great
numbers during the past thirty years, and now embel-
lish many Western salons. But they have few attrac-
tions for Japanese connoisseurs, being, in fact, a
product of foreign demand. In the works of Kwo-
yetsu, Kworino, and Ritsuo some virility and chasteness

357

JAPAN

of taste always save the decoration from becoming
meretricious. Shibayama himself was not unfaithful
to true canons. But the later disciples of his school
fall perpetually into the error of imagining that the
chief ends to be attained are profusion of detail, an
infinite display of manual dexterity, and brilliant wealth
of material. The merit of magnificence cannot be
denied to their works, but they can scarcely be called
art lacquer.

There are some special varieties of lacquer which
are too interesting to be left unnoticed. Two, well
known to all collectors, are tsui-koku and tsui-shu.
Both are similarly produced. The ground having
been duly prepared in the orthodox method, coats of
cinnabar and dark-brown lacquer are applied succes-
sively until a considerable thickness has been obtained,
and then, while the lacquer is still soft, designs are cut
into it, the channels made by the chisel being V-shaped,
so that their sloping sides afford a plain view of the
alternating layers of red and dark-brown lacquer.
When the ultimate layer is dark-brown, the term tsui-
koku is applied; when red, the term tsui-shu. Such
works belong obviously to what are here classed as
" artisan lacquers." Another variety of tsui-shu has a
ground of incised arabesques or diapers, supporting a
deeply chiselled decorative design of flowers, foljiage,
birds, insects, landscapes, etc. In such work the
lacquer is not applied in alternating layers of red and
black ; it is usually pure red. Japanese artists have
never been remarkable for successful production of
this last variety of tsui-shu. The lac of China lends
itself better to such purposes, and the choicest speci-
mens are Chinese.1

1 See Appendix, note 62.

358

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

Two other very attractive kinds of lacquer, though
they do not belong to the artistic class, are called
Tsugaru-nuri and Wakasa-nuri, names derived from
the districts (Tsugaru and Wakasa) where they are
produced. These lacquers are not of the makiye
kind. The decorative design, in which several col-
ours appear, presents an appearance of marbling or
leaf-pattern, sometimes, however, being in regular
stripes, and sometimes in an apparently fortuitous
melange of clouding and spotting. It has been sup-
posed that the Tsugaru and Wakasa patterns are man-
ufactured by pressing leaves or twigs of plants into
the soft surface of the lacquer and removing them
when the latter is dry, various processes of coating
and polishing being subsequently applied to the ground
thus obtained. But though that method is adopted
in some instances, the general plan is to spread upon
a naka-nuri base a pattern of putty, over which coats
of coloured lacquer are laid — black, yellow, red, and
green in the case of Tsugaru-nun, with addition of
golden yellow, orange and brown for Wakasa-nuri, —
the whole being then covered with translucid lac, and
finally polished in the usual way. Like the " trans-
mutation glazes " of Chinese porcelain, the disposition
of the colours on these curious lacquers is in a meas-
ure accidental, for the salience of any part of the
design determines the amount of friction to which it
must be subjected before reduction to a plane surface,
and consequently determines also the colour that
emerges from the superincumbent layers. Cognate
with these lacquers is the so-called "tortoise-shell,"
known in Japan as "rubbed off lacquer" (suri-hagashi-
nuri\ which need not be described further than to say
that the upper coat of black or amber-brown lacquer

359

JAPAN

is polished away in places so as to expose the under
coat of vermilion red. There is also a variety called
chinkin-bori, of which, as its name implies, the distin-
guishing feature is that a design — generally of ara-
besques or scrolls — is scratched upon black lacquer,
and gold-foil is then rubbed into the lines. This is a
subsidiary decoration seldom seen in combination with
fine work. "Shark-skin lacquer" (same-gawa-nurt)
is another kind which used to be greatly employed for
covering the sheaths of swords. It is obtained by
pressing shark-skin into the ground of the article to
be lacquered, a layer of rice-paste having previously
been spread over the surface. The skin is then filed
down to an even plane, and a coating of lacquer is
superposed, with the usual polishing and rubbing.
There results a black surface covered regularly with
small white circles.

M. Louis Gonse says, and Mr. E. Gilbertson
endorses his dictum as " a simple truth," that "Japan-
ese lacquered objects are the most perfect works
that have issued from man's hands."

NAMES AND ERAS OF CELEBRATED LACQUER EXPERTS

Hidetsugu, of Nara. Second half of fifteenth century.

Hadagoro, of Kyoto. Second half of fifteenth century.
His works are known as " Hokkai-nuri-mono."

Taiami, of Kyoto. Time of Ashikaga Yoshimasa. Cele-
brated for togi-dashi and taka-makiye (which he is said
to have invented). He founded a long line of expert
lacquerers.

Koami Choan (1560—1603), eighth representative of the
Koami family.

Anami Kwoyetsu (1590—1637). A celebrated artist; intro-
ducer of the style afterwards carried to perfection by
Kworin.

360

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

Ogata Kworin, a renowned lacquerer and painter of the
seventeenth century (died 1716), remarkable for the
bold freedom of his style.

Yoji Hidetsugu (called also Noji Zenkyo), second half of
sixteenth century.

Seiami (called also Shoho), second half of sixteenth century.

Koami Sozen, grandson of Kbami Docho.

Koami Sokei, son of Koami Sozen.

Koami Sohaku, son of Koami Sokei.

Koami Dosei, son of Koami Docho.

Igarashi Shinsei, a celebrated lacquerer patronised by the
Sbbgun Yoshimasa (second half of fifteenth century).
Many of his descendants became famous.

Koami Choho, worked under patronage of lyeyasu in Yedo
(beginning of seventeenth century).

Koma Kiui, worked for lyemitsu in Yedo (first half of
seventeenth century). Eleven generations of the Koma
family worked for the Tokugawa.

Koami Nagashige, tenth generation of the Koami family.
A celebrated expert who worked mainly for the Toku-
gawa SKbguns in Yedo (1620-1651), as did also his
descendants through nine generations.

Koami Nagafusa, son of Koami Nagashige.

Koami Chokyu, son of Koami Nagafusa.

Koami Masamine, son of Koami Chokyu, beginning of
seventeenth century.

Igarashi Doho, worked in Kaga.

Yamamoto Shobei, worked in Nagoya ; end of eighteenth
century.

Yamamoto Shunsho, worked in Kyoto (died 1682).

Shunsho, name by nine descendants of Yamamoto Shunsho,
who were all lacquer experts.

Shibara Ichidayu, worked in Kaga (middle of seventeenth
century).

Koma Kiuhaku, son of Koma Kiui (end of seventeenth
century). Eleven generations of the Koma family worked
for the Tokugawa Shoguns in Yedo.

Tatsuki Chobei, worked in Kyoto in second half of seven-
teenth century, and became very renowned.

36"

JAPAN

Kajikawa Kaijiro (1661—1684), a celebrated lacquerer of
Yedo ; had the art title of tenka-ichi. His descendants
continued to work for several generations.

Seigai Kanshichi (1680-1710), celebrated for designs of
waves : hence his name seigai (the blue sea).

Ogawa Ritsuo, called also Haritsu. Worked in Yedo and
died in 1747. Celebrated for using faience in the deco-
ration of lacquer.

Shoami Masanari, worked in Kyoto (1716-1740); celebrated
for togi-dashi.

Nagata Tomoharu (1720-1750), an expert of the Kworin
school.

Yamamoto Rihei (1735—1766), worked in Kyoto.

Izuka Toyo, called also Kwan Shosai; worked in Awa
(1760-1780). Made inro only, for which he was very
famous.

Ninomiya Totei (1790-1820), worked in Yedo, and was
specially skilled in producing chinkin-bori. He used the
teeth of rats for engraving designs of peonies, flowers,
and foliage.

Koma Kansai (1800-1845), pupil of Koma Kiuhaku, fifth
representative of the Koma family, received permission
to take the family name in consideration of his skill.
He worked in Yedo and among his pupils was the
celebrated Shibata Zeshin.

Shibata Zeshin (1835-1891), the most celebrated of modern
lacquer experts. Worked in Yedo and followed the
style of Kworin. Pupil of Koma Kwansai.

Tamakaji Zokoku (1830—1870); worked at Takamatsu in
Senuki. He is celebrated for a style of lacquer called
after him (Zokoku-nuri), which was obtained by carving
designs in bamboo or wood and filling the lines with red,
yellow, and blue lacquer.

Hara Yoyusai, called also Kozan (1804—1840). Worked in
Yedo and attained high renown.

Nakayama Komin (1840-1871), pupil of Yoyusai. Worked
in Yedo.

Ogawa Shomin (still living). A pupil of Nakayama Komin.
Works in Tokyo.

362

SPECIAL SUBJECTS

Hanzan (1743-1790), pupil of Haritsu (Ogawa Ritsuo).

Worked in Yedo and adopted the style of his master.
Yosei ; a contemporary of Hanzan, and a follower of Ritsuo's

style.
Chohei (first part of nineteenth century). School of Ritsuo.

Worked in Yedo.
Kakosai, pupil of Izuka Toyo.
Shokwasai, a fellow-worker with Shibayama Dosho in

Yedo.
Shibayama Dosho (second half of eighteenth century).

Worked in Yedo and is celebrated for his success in

introducing ivory into the decoration of lacquered

objects.

Jokasai (first part of nineteenth century); worked in Yedo.
Shirayama Shoya (still living). *

Kawanobe Itcho (still living).
Uyematsu Homin (still living).

363

Appendix

365

Appendix

NOTE I. — Lit., a " placed thing;" that is to say, an object of art,
such as a vase or statue, serving merely for ornamental purposes.

NOTE 2. — Pronounced " Go Dashi," according to the Japanese
sound of the same characters.

NOTE 3. — The greatest of these men whose names are household
words in Japan, were Li Lung-yen (Japanese Ri Riumin), Ma Yuen
(Japanese Bayen), Muh Ki (Japanese Mokkei), Hia Kwei (Japan-
ese Ka-Kei), and Ngan Hwai (Japanese Ganki).

NOTE 4. — For detailed lists of Chinese artists of the Yuan
(1260-1367), Min (1368-1646), and later eras the reader is rec-
ommended to consult Dr. Anderson's " Catalogue of Japanese
and Chinese Paintings in the British Museum."

NOTE 5. — The prelate Kukai is recorded to have carried from
China in the year 806 no less than thirty-six paintings of supernatural
scenes as well as portraits of patriarchs, and other priests enriched
their country to an almost equal extent in the same century.

NOTE 6. — Every collector knows these maki-mono, or pictorial
scrolls. Sometimes the long series of pictures told their own tale, but
generally the drawings served only to illustrate a chapter of history or
legend written in their intervals or on their margins.

NOTE 7. — It will be observed that this record assigns to wood-
engraving in Japan an antiquity nearly six hundred years greater than
that attributable to the beginning of the art in Europe.

NOTE 8. — Dr. Anderson assigns 1700 as the time when colour-
printing began in Japan, and Mr. S. Tuke has fixed the date at 1710.
But the most exhaustive researches assign it to about 1740.

NOTE 9. — Literally u brocade picture," but the term nishiki
(brocade) had long been used in Japan in the sense simply of " many-
coloured." Another term originally applied to these pictures was
suri-mono (print), but the name subsequently came to designate little
single-sheet chromo-xylographs which were sent to friends at the New
Year, and also black-and-white prints. Sheets in sequence — two,
three, five, seven, or even twelve — which were first introduced by

367

APPENDIX

Torii Kiyonaga in 1775, are called tsuzuki-mono. Of nearly con-
temporaneous origin was the hashira-kakushi-ye (post-concealing pic-
ture), a long narrow chromo-xylograph ; and to Katsukawa Shunsho
(1789) is due the hoso-ye (slender picture), which often shows remark-
ably clever examples of designing.

NOTE 10. — Practically all knowledge hitherto collected of the
sepulchral relics of Japan is due to the patient and scientific researches
of Mr. W. Gowland, and to those of the late Baron Kanda and Pro-
fessor Tsuboi of the Imperial Japanese University.

NOTE IT. — Similar moulds exist in Korea, a fact which helps to
establish the theory of an industrial connection between Japan and
that part of the Asiatic continent in early ages.

NOTE 12. — It is noteworthy that the mirrors of the ancient
Greeks were exactly similar to those of China and Japan, with the
exceptions that the Greeks did not use quicksilver and that their
decorative designs were engraved.

NOTE 13. — It is interesting to compare these facts with the
historical records on which the Japanese themselves have hitherto
been accustomed to rely. Their oldest tradition tells that the Sun
Goddess gave a mirror to her grandchild, bidding him worship it as
her invisible soul no less fervently than he had previously worshipped
her visible presence. There is not any serious attempt to state
arithmetically the time when that event occurred, but it necessarily
antedates the era of Japan's terrestrial sovereigns, and must therefore
be referred to the seventh or eighth century before Christ. Yet
Japanese archaeologists speak of the art of metal casting as having
been acquired from Korea in the first century before the Christian
era, and even record the names of two Korean experts — Mai Jun
and Sho Toku-haku — who came to Japan to teach the process.
In other words, they represent the first exercise of the art as having
taken place six or seven hundred years after its products had come
into actual use. There is not any irreconcilable contradiction, of
course. The Japanese historian may maintain that the mirror had
been in his countrymen's possession and had been regarded by them
as a rare and wonderful object, long before they understood the
processes of its manufacture. But, as a matter of fact, he does not
appear to have yet noticed the discrepancy between attested facts
and the statements he advances.

NOTE 14. — Indra and Brama are generally coloured red and green,
respectively.

NOTE 15. — It is significant that painting also was not applied to
purposes of portraiture in Japan. A few artists made portraits of
themselves, but the professional portrait-painter had no existence.

368

APPENDIX

NOTE 1 6. — These zusbi have been carried away in great numbers
to form articles of decorative furniture in foreign houses, for which
purpose they are now expressly manufactured. It is a fancy which
to Japanese eyes appears as incongruous as the use of a reredos for
an over-mantle or of a monstrance for an epergne would seem to
Occidentals.

NOTE 17. — Gowland, in the " Journal of the Society of Chemi-
cal Industry," Vol. XIII.

NOTE 1 8. — A vase, a censer, and a pricket-candlestick formed a
set, and were collectively called mitsu-gusoku, or " the three articles of
furniture."

NOTE 19. — The credit of this success belongs to Signer Ragusa.

NOTE 20. — The method of applying the gold was to " lay it thickly
over varnish composed of hone-powder and lacquer upon hempen
cloth." (Satow.)

NOTE 21. — Shitan is a favourite wood in China and Japan. It
is the material used by the Chinese for making reading-desks, book-
cases, vase-stands, and many other objects of furniture or decora-
tion. In its natural state its colour is red, but before it emerges
from the workman's hands it is stained black, and under the fric-
tion of use it develops a beautiful glossy surface. It is hard,
close-grained, and almost knotless, being thus specially adapted for
carving.

NOTE 22. — This device has been utilised in recent years for
making metal (silver or shibuichi) cases to contain match-boxes.

NOTE 23. — From about the year 1830 the use of huge tobacco-
pouches obtained much vogue among the artisan classes. Generally
these pouches had silver chains for attaching the netsuke, which was
of the button (manjiT) variety and proportionately large. Sometimes
the silver chains numbered as many as fifty, and to such an extent
was this extravagance carried that a man wearing clothes worth ten
yen would have a tobacco-pouch worth one hundred yen.

NOTE 24. — In families whose ancestors had the honour of serv-
ing the Tokugawa Court, there are preserved and treasured long rolls
of brocade consisting entirely of tobacco-pouch covers sewed together.
These serve primarily to illustrate the extraordinary variety and beauty
of the stuffs used for covering pouches, and incidentally to record the
long service of the families possessing them, for each pouch was a
New Year's gift from the Shvgun.

NOTE 25. — The sbima-dai itself is generally of pure white-pine,
and the trees, crane, and tortoise which it supports are of silver and
gold ; but the figures of the old man and the old woman are invariably
wood-carvings.

VOL. vii. — 24 369

APPENDIX

NOTE 26. — Such chiselling was called itto-bori, or " single-stroke
carving."

NOTE 27. — Manufacturers of all small wooden objects were
generically called himono-shi.

NOTE 28. — From the close of the seventeenth century, wor-
shippers at the shrines of Sugi-no-Mori Jinja in Yedo fell into the
habit of presenting an image of clay or wood on the occasion of mak-
ing a vow or returning thanks to the deity. There were eight
houses where these images were manufactured, and where, also, the
puppets used in festival processions were modelled, the material em-
ployed for the latter being usually a variety of paper called mlno-
gami, which can be worked up to the consistency and strength of
planking. The nature of these puppets will be apparent from the
fact that the most remarkable among them were the Denshicbi-migyo
which had movable eyes. They derived their* name from that of
their maker, Takeoka Denkichi, who, in 1873, constructed with
mino-gami an exact copy of the Kamakura Dai-Butstt for the
Vienna Exhibition. The Takeoka family, now represented by
Takeoka Gohei, were inspired by the example of Matsumoto
Kisaburo to effect great improvements in the manufacture of these
puppets.

NOTE 29. — This has been demonstrated by experiments con-
ducted in Yezo by Professor H. S. Munroe, an American mining-
engineer.

NOTE 30. — Reference may be made to two huge carp, about nine
feet in height, which stand at either extremity of the roof-ridge of
Nagoya Castle. According to popular belief they are made of pure
gold, but they are in fact copper plated with the precious metal.

NOTE 31. — The gilding process is thus described by Mr. W.
Gowland, formerly Assayer at the Imperial Japanese Mint, in one
of a series of valuable essays read before the Society of Chemical
Industry: "The object of copper or bronze to be gilded was
immersed in vinegar made from the juice of unripe plums until a
clean metallic surface was obtained. It was then washed with water
and dried over a brazier, and mercury was applied to it while it was
still warm. When the surface had thus been amalgamated, the gold
was laid upon it in the form of leaves. A stronger heat was then
applied, the mercury was volatilised, and the gold left perfectly adhe-
rent." Japanese accounts add that tonoko (freestone powder) was
mixed with the mercury for application to the surface of the metal ;
that the process of plating was repeated two, three, and even four
times, and that polishing with tonoko was finally resorted to. They
also mention another method: the metal, having been boiled in lye,

370

APPENDIX

was carefully polished, first with charcoal and afterwards with emery
powder, a brush of split bamboo (called sasara) being employed for
the purpose. It was then immersed in plum-juice, afterwards
covered with a mixture of mercury and gold-dust, and finally heated
to volatilise the mercury. Polishing by friction with steel needles,
and, if necessary, " colour-finishing " (iroage) were the final processes.
These descriptions apply to silver plating also.

NOTE 32. — This statement indicates that refining processes of
great efficiency were adopted in Japan. That is the case ; and con-
siderable interest attaches to the fact, for these processes seem to
have been devised, in great part, by the Japanese themselves. Mr.
W. Gowland says : u When gold was found to contain an undue
proportion of silver, it was submitted to a curious process for the
separation of the latter metal. It was first reduced to a coarse pow-
der by heating it to near its melting-point and then rubbing it on an
iron plate with a stone or iron rubber. The coarsely powdered gold
was then mixed with common salt, and a certain proportion of clay,
and piled up in the form of a cone on an earthen dish. The whole
was then placed in a furnace containing charcoal fuel, and was kept at
a red heat for at least twelve hours, by which means the silver was
converted into chloride. The dish with its contents was then
removed, washed with hot brine and water, the silver chloride was
dissolved, and the gold left in a purified state." The test for silver was
made with the touchstone, but the test for copper was effected by a
method " unique in assaying operations." The metal was heated to
redness over a charcoal fire, and when at the proper temperature, was
rubbed with a stick of binoki (the wood of the Tbaya obtusa) and then
immersed in water. The presence of copper and its approximate
amount were determined by the colour and appearance presented by
the part to which the stick of wood had been applied. So successful
were the old operators in the application of this test that it is rare to
find more than 0.25 to 0.35 per cent of copper in the old gold coins.
If the test showed an excess of copper, it was removed by cupellation
with lead.

NOTE 33. — In the case of gold this was effected by painting the
object with a mixture of iron sulphate, copper sulphate, potassium
nitrate, calcined sodium, chloride and resin, made into a paste with
water. It was then carefully heated on a grating over a charcoal
fire, subsequently immersed in a solution of common salt and then
washed with water, the silver being dissolved out of the upper layer
of the alloy and a surface of pure gold left (Gowland). In practice,
the kinzokushi obtained his nitrate of potash by using gunpowder. In
the case of silver, the following interesting account is given by Mr.

371

APPENDIX

Gowland : " When bars of debased silver (i.e. silver containing undue
proportions of copper) were cast, a practice which unfortunately was
not seldom followed, even in the old mints — especially for commer-
cial bars — if the military rulers of the country were in need of
money, a special mode of procedure was adopted. The silver was
poured into canvas moulds, which were set in troughs of hot water,
the reason for this being that the alloy contained so much copper
that, if cast in the ordinary way, the bars would be coated with a
black layer of oxide from the action of oxygen of the air on the cop-
per, and this was difficult to remove. By placing the moulds under
water this oxidation was prevented, and castings with a clear metallic
surface were obtained. The bars were, however, of a coppery hue,
and this required removal. They were therefore heated to redness
over a charcoal fire, and then plunged into vinegar — made from the
juice of unripe plums — containing common salt in solution. After
digestion in this for some hours, they were washed with water and
then boiled in plum vinegar without salt for one or more hours,
when they were washed with boiling water and dried. By these
operations the copper in the alloy was removed from the surface lay-
ers and a coating of pure silver left."

NOTE 34. — Professor Rein, in his great work " The Industries of
Japan," describes the method adopted by the celebrated artist Goro-
saburo of Kyoto to produce a dark coffee-brown patina on copper
and bronze : " Equal weights of green vitriol, copper vitriol, and
sulphur are mixed with water. The copper article is then dipped in
this bath, which must be often stirred on account of the finely dis-
tributed sulphur, and then rinsed in a second bath prepared in the
same way but very much thinner. This process is repeated until the
necessary corrosion is recognised by long practice. The vessel is
then brought to the brazier and heated on an iron grate, whose bars
are from eight to twelve centimeters distant from each other, and
with frequent turning. In order not to endanger the soldering, these
bars are sprinkled from time to time with water in which kariyasu
(Calamagrostis hakonesis) has been boiled. The vessel is now rubbed
with a cloth ; then painted lightly with lacquer, rubbed again with the
cloth, painted once more, and now heated until the sprinkled kariyasu
water, rolling away in balls, indicates the amount of heat. The
copper article is then taken from the grate with a pair of tongs and
coated with a mixture of raw lac and lamp-black. It is then heated
again up to the point where the water rolls away in balls, brushed
over and painted anew with the lac mixture, and so on, till colour
and lustre have the desired shade, whereupon the work is finished
and the article is set aside for a second cooling."

372

APPENDIX

NOTE 35. — In bon-zbgan, or true inlaying, a distinction is made be-
tween hira-zogan (flat inlaying), where the inlaying is level with the
surface of the field, and taka-zbgan (relief inlaying), where the out-
lines of the inlaid design are in slight relief.

NOTE 36. — M. Gonse, in L? Art "Japonais, dismisses the Goto
family in a single paragraph, and sums up their style thus : Leurs
decors sont monotones poncifs et (fun gout un peu chinois ; leur invention
est pauvre.

NOTE 37. — There are some misapprehensions among European
collectors with regard to this part of the subject. Errors of date are
seldom of much importance in such matters, but occasionally they
are worth noticing when they affect the history of the art's develop-
ment. Thus M. Gonse depicts, among the oldest guards to which
he refers, one by Toshiharu (of Yedo), and assigns it to the end of
the fifteenth century. But Toshiharu was one of the " Three Mas-
ters " of the Nara family, and worked in the last quarter of the seven-
teenth century. Again, M. Gonse puts Kaneiye at the close of the
fourteenth century, whereas he flourished a hundred years later. He
also shows a guard by Nagayoshi (of Yamashiro) — " incrusted with
bronze and gold of different tones," having a design of monkeys and
a vase of flowers — which, according to M. Gonse, shows plain
evidence of Persian influence, and in that context the French critic
explains that Namban-tetsu means " iron of Persia." Now this
guard belongs to a comparatively modern class known in Japan as
Heian-tsuba (guards of Heian), and justly condemned as most in-
ferior specimens. They have no connection with any chapter of the
art's history, but simply represent bad, vulgar workmanship. The
design is borrowed from a Chinese picture. As for the term Namban-
tetsu, it has nothing whatever to do with Persia, but was formerly
applied to all iron imported from Occidental countries. The guard
referred to by M. Gonse bears the date " 1498," but that seems to be
a capricious addition on the part of the maker. He might with equal
truth have written " 1948." Further, speaking of the use of trans-
lucid enamels in the decoration of sword-furniture, the same author
accredits the innovation to Kunishiro, whom he places at the end of
the sixteenth century. Kunishiro was an insignificant workman of the
eighteenth century. There is no record of his having employed
vitrifiable enamels for such a purpose, and if he did, he had been long
anticipated by the Hirata family. M. Gonse also makes Kinai of
Yechizen a contemporary of Nobuiye, and puts them both at the
end of the sixteenth century. But Nobuiye flourished in the first
part of that century, and the great Kinai in the second half of the
seventeenth. These comments are made simply in the interests of

373

APPENDIX

accuracy, and not with any intention of criticising an author whose
knowledge, considering the circumstances under which it was ac-
quired, must be pronounced remarkable, and who has brought so much
light to bear on every branch of Japanese art.

NOTE 38. — Runinaga and Yoshishige are described by tradition
as the first really skilled artists of Kaga. Their personal names
were respectively Jiro and Goro, and their carvings were known as
Jiro-saku and Goro-saku.

NOTE 39. — A kozuka by Toshihisa was sold fifty years ago for a
sum which would now represent 1200 yen. It was made of iron, and
the design, chiselled in high relief, represented the Chinese celebrities
Liu Pei, Chu Koh-liang, and Kwan Yu.

NOTE 40. — Not to be confounded with the Okamoto family of
Kyoto, founded by Harukuni in 1740, the second representative
of which is the celebrated Naoshige, known in the art world as
" Tetsugen."

NOTE 41. — The meagre nature of the information contained in
Japanese records with regard to the Kinai experts is remarkable.
They are spoken of merely as " Kinai," neither their family names
nor their dates being given. The writer of these notes caused spe-
cial investigations to be made in Yechizen, and found that the first
Kinai was called Ishikawa, the second Takahashi, and that the family
was a branch of the Miyochin. The tomb of Ishikawa Kinai shows
that he died in 1680, and that of Takahashi Kinai, that he died in
1696. There is in Yechizen a tradition that the feudal chief of the
province ordered the second Kinai to carve a pair of iron menuki in
the shape of mandarin ducks. Kinai did not complete the work
until three years had passed, and, almost immediately afterwards, one
of the menuki was lost during the chiePs journey to Yedo. Kinai,
being required to replace the missing menuki, chiselled a substitute in
one day, and was then severely rebuked for having previously taken
three years to accomplish a work which could easily have been finished
in as many days. His answer was : " Put those two menuki in
water and observe the difference." That being done, the new me-
nuki sank at once, but the original one floated, so delicately had it been
chiselled.

NOTE 42. — It has been found by measurement that lines cut in
guards of iron shakudo^ etc., have a width not exceeding 3/100 of
an inch. The tool used for such work is scarcely imaginable.

NOTE 43. — Yoshitsugu's personal name was Kichiji, and he re-
ceived the appellation of " Kichiji Kinai " from contemporary con-
noisseurs, who placed him on the same level as the great Kinai.
NOTE 44. — Not to be confounded with Masu-ya. There were

374

APPENDIX

four well-known experts whose ateliers went by the name of Masu-
ya. They were, Uyemura Kuninaga (1680), of Kyoto, known as
" Masu-ya Kuhei ; " Uyemura Kichibei, of Kyoto, known as
u Masu-ya Kichibei ; " Torii Jokwo, of Osaka, known as Masu-ya
Uhei; and Uyemura Munemine (1720), or Masu-ya Kihei.

NOTE 45. — Miidera is the name of a famous temple on the shore
of Lake Biwa in Omi. An autumn evening on the lake while the
bell of the temple tolls is one of the " Eight Views " of Omi.

NOTE 46. — One of Joi's guards (shakudo) carries the picture
known as Munetaka no Matsu. On the face, Yoshitsune, in full
armour, rides to his final victory over the Taira ; on the reverse, a
troop of armed men with halberds and banners, appear partially above
the rim of the guard so as to suggest distance and numbers. This
guard was sold forty years ago to a Japanese provincial magnate for
the equivalent of about 500 yen in the currency of the present time.

NOTE 47. — The attention of collectors should be drawn to one
point connected with the Hamano experts. It is that among the
eleven art names used by Shozui, four (Otsuriuken, Miboku, Rifudo^
and Kankyo) appear upon the works of Masanobu, and two (Otsuriu-
ken and Miboku) upon the works of Norinobu. Thus a specimen
cannot be exactly identified merely because it bears one or more of
these names. Another point is that Masayoshi, a pupil of Shozui,
was called " Shozui Bozu " (old man Shozui), and being exceptionally
skilful as an imitator of old masterpieces, did not hesitate to copy the
works of his teacher and to mark them Shozui.

NOTE 48. — These details were first published by Mr. W.
Gowland.

NOTE 49. — It is related of Hidari Jingoro that when a friend
recommended him to exercise more caution with the view of emerg-
ing from a condition of extreme poverty, he replied, " Pleasure lies
hidden in poverty. Does not the plum blossom in snow ? "

NOTE 50. — This was called nata-gake^ nata being the term for
hatchet.

NOTE 51. — Round the four sides of a Japanese chamber, at a
height of six feet, runs a horizontal beam of finely grained knotless
timber, nailed at intervals to similar vertical beams. The beauty of
the timber being a cardinal feature, it is necessary to conceal the nail-
heads. That is effected by fastening over them pieces of metal
chiselled in various shapes and designs.

NOTE 52. — The mirror is said to have belonged to the Emperor
Shomu.

NOTE 53. — Mr. Bowes maintained his views with remarkable
firmness. No Japanese collection, public or private, contained any

375

APPENDIX

specimen of the wares which he supposed to have been produced
and preserved in temples and noblemen's residence during nearly
three centuries. No Japanese connoisseur had any knowledge of
such objects having been manufactured previously to 1837. All
the circumstances under which their production had commenced at
the latter date, were well known and had been officially recorded.
The artisan who had originated the work was living and had received
a reward from the Government for his invention. Some of the
specimens which Mr. Bowes attributed to the seventeenth century
were unhesitatingly identified by artisans of the present time as their
own work, and the signatures which certain of these specimens bore
were claimed by the men who had actually signed them. But none
of these things shook Mr. Bowes' faith. He thought that he could
detect in the wares themselves technical evidence, or signs of wear
and tear, justifying his theory, and he clung to that theory with a
tenacity which, considering the testimony on the other side, is
probably unique.

NOTE 54. — A possible exception is a Koto (musical instrument)
said to have belonged to the poet Chomei in the twelfth century. It
has mosaics of cloisonne enamel on the face and sides.

NOTE 55. — Kaji supposed that the specimen was Dutch. There
can be little doubt that it was a Chinese enamel imported by the
Dutch at Nagasaki.

NOTE 56. — It will be at once understood that such a method, to
be successful, implies great command of coloured pastes. Indeed,
no feature of enamel manufacture is more conspicuous than the
progress made by the Japanese in that respect during the past twenty
years (1880— 1900), and much of it is due to the assistance of a
profoundly skilled German expert, the late Dr. Waagener.

NOTE 57. — It is a mere accident that the representatives of the
Kyoto and Tokyo schools are both called Namikawa. There is no
relationship. Moreover, the Kyoto Namikawa is himself an expert
of the highest skill ; the Tokyo Namikawa is only an enterprising
and resourceful employer of experts.

NOTE 58. — In connection with the question of technical processes
a fact of some interest may be mentioned. Up to the year 1890 the
cloisons were attached to the base with solder which, when repeatedly
exposed to the heat of the furnace, showed a tendency to " boil,"
thus causing holes in the enamel. Hence it often happened that
vases or plaques upon which great labour had been expended, were
found to be disfigured by pittings and scars when they finally emerged
from the fire. These defects were usually hidden with wax, the
result being that a specimen showing a glossy uniform surface at the

376

APPENDIX

time of purchase, was subsequently found to lose its lustre and
develop unaccountable blemishes. From 1890, when the choicest
kinds of enamels began to be manufactured, a glue obtained from the
root of the orchid (ran) was substituted for brass solder, the danger
of flaws being thus avoided at some expense of durability.

NOTE 59. — The most scientific and exhaustive information with
respect to lacquer manufacture is to be found in the " Industries of
Japan " by Professor Rein, who studied the processes by engaging in
them with his own hands. The practical experience he thus gained,
supplemented by scientific knowledge, enabled him to publish the
first really satisfactory monograph, to which free recourse has been
made for the details here given.

NOTE 60. — The process of evaporating the moisture is constantly
seen in the streets of cities. The lac is put into large pans, and
these being placed in an inclined position, their contents are stirred
for several hours with a large spatula.

NOTE 61. — The drying of lacquer is not effected by heat: a
damp, cool atmosphere is essential. The object is usually enclosed
in a wooden chest of which the sides and cover have been saturated
with water.

NOTE 62. — Many collectors have been betrayed into purchasing,
as genuine tsui-shu, specimens which are simply carved wood overlaid
with red lacquer, in the manner of the Kamakura-bori mentioned in
the text. Note must also be taken of imitation tsui-shu, of which the
surface is a putty, — composed of lacquer, ochre, glue, and wheat-
flour, — having a decorative design impressed on it. This kind of
lacquer is largely applied to articles of wood or porcelain, such as
trays, tobacco-boxes, vases, lecterns, etc.

377

INDEX

379

INDEX

A JOUR, early use of chiselling, 74 ;
bronze castings, 1 40 ; develop-
ment of chiselling, 277—282.

Akao family, sword-decorators, 281.

Aki, Miyochin, armourer, 263.

Alcove recess, decorative purpose of
picture in, 3.

Alloys used in Japanese art, 23 2-236,
317; antimony ware, 318. See
also Bronze.

Amida, seventh-century bronze statue

of, 79-

Anami Kwoyetsu, lacquerer, 346,
360.

Anatomy, Japanese art attitude, 8,
33, 57, 200.

Anderson, William, on Chinese pic-
torial art, 24—26; on the Japanese
Classical school, 39 ; on an ancient
mural painting, 152.

Aoki family, sword- decorators, 269.

Applied art, Shoso-in collection, 20,
87—89 ; first evidence, 72; shrines,
115; religious monopoly, 135;
rise of secular, 135. See also
Bronze, Enamel, Interior decora-
tion, Iron, Lacquer, Metal-
work, Sculpture, Sword-furniture.

Arakawa Reiun, wood-carver, 202.

Araki Kwampo, painter, 63.

Architecture, character of early Bud-
dhist temples, 148. See also In-
terior decoration.

Ariyoshi Nagato-nli-Sho, mask-carver,
168.

Armour, beginning of decoration, 74,
205 ; Yoshitsune's, 205.

BELLS, ancient, 72, 99; tone, 99,
101 ; dimensions, 100; metal,

Bells (continued}:

101 ; proportions, 102 ; form,
103 ; decoration, 103 ; method of
hanging, 103.

Bowes, J. L., mistake on Japanese
enamels, 331, 375.

Boya Magojiuro, mask-carver, 166.

Bronze, Japanese, introduction of cast-
ing, 70; use in weapons, 71 ;
stone moulds, 7 1 ; early mirrors
and bells, 72, 96 ; method of
constructing early statues, 75 ;
early temple ornaments and deco-
rations, 78 ; statues of the seventh
century, 79 ; introduction of the
cire-perdue process of casting, 80 ;
Nara Daibutsu, 85, 132-134;
objects in the Shoso-in collection,
88, 89; temple bells, 99—104;
gongs, 104; Kamakura Daibutsu,
III, 114, 120; composition,
125; quality, 127; yellow, 128;
process of casting, 129—134; Na-
goshi family of art founders, 136—
138; development of casting in
Tokugawa epoch, 139-141 ; fora
140; manufacture of parlour
bronzes, 141—144; modern cast-
ings, 144-147; Occidental influ-
ence, 147 ; relation of the sculptor
and founder, 148. See also Fine
Arts, Sculpture.

Bronze age in Japan, 70.

Brush, Japanese painting, 1 1 .

Buddhism, influence on Japanese art,
17-19, 29, 75, 82, 106, 119-
125; influence on Chinese art,
21 ; character of religious paint-
ings, 30; religious zeal of em-
perors, 1 08 ; temples monopolise

INDEX

Buddhism (continued) :

sculptures, 117; character of early
temples, 148-150; ceremonial
splendour, 149.

Buncho, chromo-xylographer, 50.

Bunrin, painter, 62.

Bunzo, mask-carver, 165.

Buto Gempachi, sword-decorator,

3°3-
Button for girdle-pendants. See

Netsuke.

CARICATURES, character of Japanese,
36.

Castings. See Bronze, Iron.

Chamberlain, B. H., on Japanese
pictorial art, 15.

Champleve, variety of enamel decora-
tion, 327. See also Enamel.

Chiaroscuro. See Light and shade.

Chigusa, mask-carver, 166.

Chikanobu. See Izeki Jirozaemon.

Chikudo Ganki. See Ganki.

China, relation to Japanese art, 1 6—
24, 37-40, 78, 367 ; prehistoric
contact with Japan, 98 ; character
of sculpture, 119.

Chiselling, varieties of chisels, 229 ;
methods, 241-243, 247, 274.
See also Metal-work, Sculpture,
Sword-furniture.

Chiyo family, sword-decorators, 286

Ch5 Dense. See Meicho.

Choan, Koami, lacquerer, 360.

Chobunsai, chromo-xylographer, 50

Choen, sculptor, 1 1 o.

Chohei, lacquerer, 363.

Choho, Koami, lacquerer, 361.

Chokyu, Koami, lacquerer, 361.

Chosei, sculptor, 110.

Choshiu province, school of sword-
decorators, 279.

Choshun, sculptor, no.

Choun Yasuyoshi, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Chromo-xylography. See Wood.

Chuen, sculptor, no.

Civilisation, Japanese, European at-
titude toward, I ; gradual influence
of the Occident before the Revo-
lution of 1867, 65 ; ancient, in-
dustrial rather than agricultural,
69 ; prehistoric contact with
China and Korea, 98 ; art instinct,
177; attitude toward art and na-
ture, 225-227.

Classical school of pictorial art, char-
acteristics, 3 8-40 ; branches, 40.
See also Kose school, Pictorial art.

Clay statues, technique, 84 ; famous,
86. See also Sculpture.

Cloisonne, variety of enamel decora-
tion, 327. See also Enamel.

Colour in art, Chinese use, 22, 24; in
religious pictures, 30 ; in decora-
tions of the Kano school, 42; hand-
coloured prints, 47 ; development
of chromo-xylographs, 48—50 ;
Japanese knowledge and use, 56,
1 60; in interior decorations, 159.

Conder, J., on character of Japanese
decorative designs, 158.

Copper, use in sword-decorating, 236.

Costumes. See Sage-mono.

DAIBUTSU, Nara, 85, 132-134;
Kamakura, in, 114, 120.

Dansho, mask-carver, 166.

Deme family, mask-carvers, 166, 167.

Dengyo Daishi, artist- priest, 29, 109.

Deva Kings (Shi-Tenno), eighth-
century clay statues of, 86 ; (Ni-o)
temple Kofuku-ji statues, 112
temple Todai-ji statues, 113.

Distemper, use in Japanese decora-
tion, 152.

Docho, Koami, lacquerer, 345.

Door, panel paintings, 3.

Dosei, Koami, lacquerer, 345, 361.

Dragon in Japanese art, 253.

Drama, popularity of the No, 162;
use of masks, 163 ; influence on
the theatre, 164.

Drawing. See Line.

382

INDEX

ECHI YOSHIFUNE, mask-carver, 165.

Economic condition, ancient, 69.

Eishin, Hidari, decorative-sculptor,
161.

Eitoku, painter, 42.

Eiyen, sculptor, 1 1 6.

Enamel, as sword-decoration, 285;
composition, 327; varieties, 327;
introduction, 328, 329, 332;
technique, 328,376; former uses,
330-333, 375; modern develop-
ment, 333-340; Japanese and
Chinese, compared, 340.

Engraving. See Metal, Wood.

Ensei, sculptor, 110.

Enso, sculptor, 109.

Eshin, sculptor-priest, 109.

FENOLLOSA, E. F., on Japanese pic-
torial art, 15.

Feudalism, influence on Japanese art,
38, in.

Fine arts, Japanese, genesis, 17—19,
193 ; influence of Buddhism, 29,
82, 1 06, 119—125; continuity of
development, 70 ; character of
artists, 156, 161, 318; instinct,
177; attitude toward the nude,
180; canons, 191, 203; consci-
entiousness, 208 ; Japanese attitude
toward, 225-227, 229; effect of
the Revolution of 1867 anc^ a for-
eign market, 322—325. See a/so
Bronze, Enamel, Interior decora-
tion, Lacquer, Metal-work, Picto-
rial art, Sculpture, Sword-furni-
ture.

Forgery in Japanese fine arts, 324.

Fresco painting not employed by Jap-
anese, 152.

Fujii family, sword-decorators, 280.

Fukurai Masatomo, mask -carver,
1 66.

Kagan, figure-sculptor,

Fukushima

200.
Fusayoshi,

267.

Miyochin, armourer

GANKI, painter, 62.

Ganku, painter, 60.

Ganku, sculptor-priest, no.

Gekkei, painter, 62.

Genjiro. See Jirozaemon Yoshimitsu.

Genkiu Mitsufusa, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Genkiu Mitsunaga, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Genkiu Mitsushige, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Genkiu Mitsuzane, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Genre painting, development, 44.

Genri Toshimitsu, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Genri Yoshimitsu, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Gensuke Hidemitsu, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Gensuke Mitsukira, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Gilding, method, 370.

Girdle pendants. See Sage-mono.

Girls' fete, dolls, 194.

Gold, use in Japanese art, 74, 229-
23 1 ; surfacing debased, 23 I, 371 ;
method of gilding with, 370 ; pro-
cess of refining, 371.

Golden Pavilion, decoration, 153,

369-

Gongs, origin, 104; varieties, 104;
tone, 105.

Gonse, Louis, on Japanese pipe cases,
1 90 ; on motives in sword-deco-
ration, 227 ; on Japanese lacquer,
360 ; on the Goto family, 373 ;
misapprehensions on sword-decora-
tors, 373.

Gorobei, sword- decorator, 287.

Goto family, sword-decorators, 212,
219—225, 298; skill and motives
of early masters, 252—260, 373 ;
art influence, 260, 261, 272;
branches, 299.

Gowland, W., on quality of Japanese
bronze, 127; on method of cast-

383

INDEX

Gowland (continued} :

ing bronze, 129-132; on Japanese

alloys, 232, 235 ; on method of

gilding, 370; on refining processes,

371; on " surfacing " metals, 371.
Graining of metals for art use, 245-

247 ; origin, 262.
Greek art and Japanese art/ 1 7-1 9,

78, 80, 119-122, 124, 368 ; and

Chinese art, 21.
Guard, sword, 219; development of

decoration, 250, 261-265, 277;

materials, 265.
Gunkei, mask-carver, 166.
Guri-boriy variety of metal decoration,

247.
Gyogi, sculptor-priest, 81.

HADAGORO, lacquerer, 345, 360.
Hamano family, sword-decorators,

29*» 3°3» 3°6> 375-

Hammering of metal, 312.

Han Kan, Chinese artist, 22.

Hanzan, lacquerer, 363.

Hanzo. See Hokan Mitsunao.

Hanzo Yasukore, Deme, mask-carver,
167.

Hara Yoyusai, lacquerer, 362.

Haruaki, Ishiguro, sword-decorator,
302.

Harukuni, Okamoto, sword-decora-
tor, 294.

Harunari, Hirata, sword-decorator,
285, 308.

Harunobu, Suzuki, chromo-xylog-
rapher, 49, 50.

Haruwaka Tadatsugu, mask-carver,
1 66.

Haruyori. See Shunzui.

Hasegawa Kumazo, art-founder, 145,
147.

Hashi-ichi, sculptor, 191.

Hashimoto Gaho, painter, 63 ; west-
ern influence upon, 68.

Heian epoch, and the beginning of
secular pictorial art, 27-29 ; char-
acter of sculpture in, 106—109.

Hibi Munetada, mask-carver, 165.
Hidekiyo, Omori, sword-decorator,

3°3- .
Hidenori, Omori, sword-decorator,

3°3-
Hidetomo, Omori, sword-decorator,

3°3-

Hidetsugu, lacquerer, 345, 360.
Hideyori. See Shuzui.
Hideyori, Omori, sword-decorator,

3°3-
Hideyoshi, Omori, sword-decorator,

.3°3-
Hideyoski, the Taiko, as an art

patron, 135, 150, 162; Palace

of Pleasure, 270.
Hien Wantsz, sculptor, 81.
Hikoshiro, Hirata, sword-decorator,

285.
Hirata family, sword-decorators and

enamellers, 285, 300, 312, 332.
Hiroshige, chromo-xylographer, 50.
Hirotaka, painter, 31, 35.
Hiroyoshi, Kuwamura, sword-dec-
orator, 272.

Hisayori. See Juzui, Kiuzui.
Hishigawa Moronobu, xylographer,

46.

Hogen, art title, 117.
Hoin, art title, 1 10.
Hokan Mitsunao, Deme, mask-carver,

167.
Hokke-do Trinity, famous group of

dry lacquer statues, 86.
Hokkei, chromo-xylographer, 50.
Hokusai, art characteristics, 9, lo;

chromo-xylographer, 50 ; traces

of Western influence upon, 67.
Hokyo, art title, 1 1 o.
Honjo Yoshitane, swordsmith and

decorator, 309.

Horai Ujitoki, mask-carver, 166.
Horu-ji, temple, ancient distemper

painting in, 152.
Hosho family, No dancers, 162.
Hosono Masamori, inlayer, 273.
Hotokusai, art-founder, 144.

384

INDEX

Hoy en, painter, 62.
Hozan, mask-carver, 166.
Humour in Japanese sculpture, 85.
See also Caricatures.

ICHIBEI, Nara, sword-decorator, 288.

Ichijo, Goto, sword-decorator, 298—
301 ; specimens of his work, 307.

Ichikawa Hirosuke, alleged sword-
decorator, 218.

Ideographa, influence on pictorial art,
8, II, 31 ; helmet characters,
262.

Igarashi Doho, lacquerer, 361.

Igarashi Shinsai, lacquerer, 345, 361.

Illustrations, freaks, 33 ; of the Tosa
school, 34 ; development of wood
engraving, 45-47 ; hand-coloured
prints, 47 ; development of col-
oured prints, 48—5 1 ; technique of
coloured prints, 51-55. See also
Pictorial art.

Imao Keinen, painter, 63.

Inaba-no-suke, title used by Yoshioka
family, 283, 284.

Incho, sculptor, lio.

Inchu, sculptor, 116.

Industry in ancient Japan, 69.

Injin, sculptor, 1 1 6.

Injo, sculptor, no, 116.

Inkaku, sculptor, no.

Inken, sculptor, 1 1 6.

Inko, sculptor, 116.

Inku, sculptor, 1 16.

Inlaying, in sword-decoration, 220,
272; varieties, 243—245; in-
serted, 313; sepia, 315; ground-
out, 315.

Inouye family, sword-decorators, 286.

Inro, girdle pendant, original and
acquired use and fashion, 173; its
cord-clutch, 173; decoration,
1 86.

Insertion in metal work, 313.

Inshu, sculptor, 116.

Inso, sculptor, 1 1 6.

Inson, sculptor, 110.

Interior decoration, decorative pur-
pose of Japanese pictures, 3, 34,
42; growth of demand, 32, 42,
43 ; seventh-century temple, 78 ;
early use of pictorial, 149, 151—
153; development of sculptured,
150; pictorial, of the Golden
and Silver Pavilions, 153; pictorial
and sculptured, of Nishi Hong-
wan-ji, 1 54 ; pictorial and sculp-
tured, of the Nikko mausoleum,
I55~I57> general and particular
aspects, 157 ; character of designs,
158; use of colours, 159; use of
metal- carvings, 326.

Inyu, sculptor, 1 16.

Ippitsusai, chromo-xylographer, 50.

Iron, displaces bronze in swords, 71;
ancient bell-shaped castings of un-
known use, 73 ; first manufacture
of vessels of, 136; tea-ceremonial
urn and its influence, 136-138;
in sword-decoration, 236; patina,
237. See also Bronze, Metal-
work.

Iron age in Japan, 70.

Ishiguro family, sword-decorators,
301, 306.

Ishikawa Riuyemon Shigemasa, mask-
carver, 165.

Isono family, metal-carvers and in-
layers, 284.

Ito family, sword-decorators, 282,
296.

Ittan. See Sanehisa.

Ittosai, mask- carver, 165.

Iwamoto family, sword- decorators,
286, 293, 303, 306.

Iwasa Matahei, painter, 44.

lyefusa, Miyochin, armourer, 267.

lyemasa, Nagoshi, art-founder, 138.

lyetsugu, Jiyemon, art-founder, 141.

lyeyasu, Shogun, mausoleum, 154.

Izeki Jirozaemon, mask-carver, 168.

Izeki Kawachi lyeshige, mask-carver,
168.

Izuka Toyo, lacquerer, 362.

INDEX

JAKUSHI. See Kizayemon.

Jikan Yoshimitsu, Deme, mask-
carver, 1 66.

Jimpo, Nomura, sword-decorator, 287.

Jingo, Aoki, sword-decorator, 269.

Jingoro, Hidari, decorative-sculptor,
151, 156, 157.

Jirozaemon Mitzuteru, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Jirozaemon Norimitsu, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Jirozaemon Yoshimitsu, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Jitsuye, artist-priest, 29.

Jiunin, mask-carver, 1 66.

Jiyemon family, art- founders, 141.

Jochiku, Isono, metal-carver, 284.

Jocho, sculptor, 107, no; record
of his work, 168 ; titles, 109, no.

Joho, art- founder, 138.

Joi, Nara, sword-decorator, 289 ;
specimen of his work, 375.

Jokaku, sculptor, in; his Deva
Kings, 113.

Jokasai, lacquerer, 363.

Jokei. See Gensuke Hidemitsu.

Jomi. See Sansho.

Josei, art-founder, 138.

Josetsu, artist-priest, 37, 40.

Joshin. See Gensuke Hidemitsu.

Joshin, Goto, sword-decorator, 220,
259.

Jotetsu, Isono, metal-carver, 285.

Joun. See Oshima Katsujiro.

Joyen, sculptor, 116.

Joyu, Nagoshi, art-founder, 138.

Jubei, Aoki, sword-decorator, 269.

Jujo, Goto, sword-decorator, 223.

Juzui, Hamano, sword-decorator, 303.

KACHO, metal-carver, 326.

Kaga province as an art centre, 270.

Kaikei, sculptor, 1 1 6.

Kaji Tsunekichi, enameler, 333.

Kajikawa Kaijiro, lacquerer, 362.

Kakino Moto-no-Otoma, sculptor, 81.

Kakosai, lacquerer, 363.

Kaku-no-bo, mask-carver, 166.

Kakujo, sculptor, no.

Kakuyu, Minamoto no, caricaturist,
36.

Kamakura epoch. See Military epoch.

Kambayashi Rakkiken, figure-sculptor,
200.

Kame, art-founder, 142.

Kameyama Yasutomo, art-founder,
141.

Kamparu family, No dancers, 162.

Kan-Kan. See Han Kan.

Kanaoka, Kose no, painter, Chinese
influence on, 16, 22; position, 28;
style, 28; no surviving pictures,
28 ; and the Kose school, 34.

Kanashi, sculptor, 80.

Kanaya, metal-carver, 270.

Kanaya Gorosaburo, art-founder, 145.

Kanazawa as an art centre, 271.

Kaneiye, sword-decorator, 250, 266.

Kaneko family, sword-decorators, 286.

Kano Natsuo, sword-decorator, 309.

Kano school of pictorial art, branch
of the Classical school, 40 ; devel-
opment of the decorative method,
42. See also Pictorial art.

Kansai, chromo-xylographer, 5 1 .

Kansai, Koma, lacquerer, 362.

Kansei, sculptor, 109.

Kany en, sculptor, 116.

Kashiwaya Nagatsune, metal- carver,
295.

Kasuga Motomitsu, painter, alleged
founder of the Yamato school, 32,

33-

Kasuga Tori, mask-carver, 1 66.

Kasuga school of pictorial art, 33.
See also Pictorial art, Yamato school.

Kata-kiri style of incised chiselling,
274.

Katsugi Uji-iye, sword-decorator,
272.

Katsukawa Shunsho, chromo-xylog-
rapher, 50.

Katsukawa Shunyei, chromo-xylog-
rapher, 50.

386

INDEX

Katsumasa, Hidarf, decorative-sculp-
tor, 161.

Kawabata Gyokusho, painter, 63.

Kawanari, painter, traditional skill
and originality, 27.

Kawanobe Itcho, lacquerer, 363.

Kawarabayashi Hidekuni, sword-
decorator, 310.

Kazutomo, Omori, sword-decorator,

303-
Keibun, painter, 62.

Keibunkai, sculptor, 81.

Keibunkomi, sculptor, 81.

Keijo, sword -decorator, 224.

Keisai, art-founder, 143.

Kenjo, Goto, sword-decorator, 221,

222.

Kenyen, sculptor, 1 1 o.
Kichijo-in, mask-carver, 166.
Kijima Ippu, inlay er, 315.
Kikuchi Yosai, painter, 62.
Kikugawa Utamaro, chromo-xylog-

rapher, 50.
Kimara, sculptor, 80.
Kimimaro, sculptor, founder of the

Nara Daibutsu, 81.
Kimmochi, painter, 35.
Kinai family, sword-decorators, 280,

374-

Kincbaku, different uses, 1 69 ; method
of wearing, 169. See also Sage-
mono.

Kinonaga, Torii, chromo-xylographer,
50.

Kintada, painter, 35.

Kishiu, Miyochin, armourer, 263.

Kitagawa Soden, sword-decorator,
283.

Kitao Shigemasa, chromo-xylogra-
pher, 50.

Kiuhaku, Koma, lacquerer, 361.

Kiui, Koma, lacquerer, 361.

Kiushiu. See Izeki Jirozaemon.

Kiuzui, Hamano, sword-decorator,

3°3-

Kiyohiro, Torii, chromo-xylographer,
48.

Kiyoji-tate, shape, use, and decora-
tion, 192.

Kiyomasu, Torii, chromo-xylogra-
pher, 48.

Kiyomitsu, mask-carver, 165.

Kiyomitsu, Torii, chromo-xylogra-
pher, 48.

Kiyonaga, Torii, chromo-xylographer,

5°.

Kiyonari, Ishiguro, sword-decorator,
302.

Kiyonobu, Torii, chromo-xylogra-
pher, 48.

Kiyosai, chromo-xylographer, 5 1 ;
on motion in art, 57 ; as a genre
painter, 62.

Kiyoshige, Torii, chromo-xylogra-
pher, 48.

Kizan. See Jikan.

Kizayemon, sword -decorator, 290.

Koami family, lacquerers, 345, 360,
361.

K5ben, sculptor, 113, 116; his
Demon -lantern-bearers, 113.

Kobo Daishi, artist-priest, 29, 109 ;
no surviving pictures, 30 ; brings
pictures from China, 367.

Kocho, sculptor, no.

Kodama Choyemon Yoshimitsu, mask-
carver, 1 6 8.

Kodama Omi Mitsumasa, mask-
carver, 1 6 8.

Kogai, origin, 218; origin of decora-
tion, 251. See also Sword-furni-
ture.

Kogitsune, metal-carver, 282.

Kogo, use and decoration, 192.

Koji, Yamagawa, sword-decorator,
J09-

Kqjo, sculptor, no.

Kokei, sculptor, 113, 1 1 6.

Kokitsu, sculptor, 1 16.

Koko. See Hiroyoshi.

Koma family, lacquerers, 361,
362.

Ko-maro, sculptor, 109.

Kongo family, No dancers, 162.

387

INDEX

Konju, Iwamoto, sword-decorator,

3°3-
Konkwan, Iwamoto, sword-decorator,

293-
Korea, influence on Japanese art, 1 6—

19, 76; prehistoric contact with

Japan, 98.
Koreo, Ishiguro, sword-decorator,

302.

Koreshige, painter, 35.
Koreshige, Ishiguro, sword-decorator,

302.
Koretsune, Ishiguro, sword-decorator,

302.
Koreyoshi, Ishiguro, sword-decorator,

302 ; specimen of his work, 306.
Korin, painter, 62.
Korin, sculptor, 116.
Koriu-ji, temple, bronze statues of

seventh century in, 79.
Koriusai, chromo-xylographer, 50.
Kose no Kanaoka. See Kanaoka.
Kose school of pictorial art, Chinese

style, 34; object of its work, 36.

See also Pictorial Art.
Kosei, sculptor, 116.
Koshin, sculptor, 1 1 6.
Kosho, Heian-epoch sculptor, 107,

1 10; titles, 109.

Kosho, Military-epoch sculptor, 116.
Koshu, sculptor, 1 1 6.
Koshun, sculptor, 116.
Koson, sculptor, 116.
Kotan, sculptor, 116.
Koun, Heian-epoch sculptor-priest,

109.
Koun, Military-epoch sculptor-priest,

1 1 6.
Koun, Takamura, sculptor, 201 ;

school, 20 1.

Koushi, mask-carver, 165.
Koyei, sculptor, 116.
Koyo, sculptor, 1 1 6.
Koyu, sculptor, 1 16.
Kozuka, origin of wearing, 218;

origin of decoration, 251. See

also Sword-furniture.

Kubo Shunman, chromo-xylographer,

50.

Kukai. See Kobo Daishi.
Kumagaye Naohiko, painter, 63.
Kuninaga, sword-decorator, 272, 374.
Kusakari Kiyosada, inlayer, 296.
Kuwamura family, sword-decorators,

271.
Kwaikei, sculptor, ill; his Deva

Kings, 113.
Kwanjo, Iwamoto, sword-decorator,

203.
Kwannon, goddess of mercy, Shoto-

ku's statue, 77 ; wooden statue in

temple Hokke-ji, 87.
Kwanri, Iwamoto, sword-decorator,

303.

Kwanze family, No dancers, 162.
Kwqjo, Goto, sword-decorator, 221,

222 ; style, 259.
Kyoto, capital of Japan, influence on

art development, 32.

LACQUER, statues, 84, 86 ; qualities,
341 ; introduction, 342 ; develop-
ment and use, 343-345, 346,
349 ; early master lacquerers,
34 5; modern conditions, 349 ;
technique, 349-354, 377 ; deco-
ration, 354-358 ; special varieties,
358-360.

Lapidary work, ancient Japanese, 92.

Leather used in girdle-pendants, 170.

Light and shade, in Japanese pictures,
5» I5> 30* 59; in Chinese pic-
tures, 22, 25.

Line, in Japanese art, influence of
ideographs, 8 ; styles of touch, 9 ;
influence of artist's position while
painting, 12; precedence, 12, 57,
58, 229; in Chinese art, 22; in
religious pictures, 30 ; in carica-
tures, 36 ; development in incised
chiselling, 274.

MAKUNOSUKE. See Choun.
Mambi. See Tosui.

388

INDEX

Manku. See Tosui.

Mannerisms and copying in Japanese

pictures, 1 3 .

Mansho. See Kodama Omi.
Manual dexterity of Japanese artists,

9-1 1.

Manyei. See Genkiu Mitsunaga.
Maruyama Okio, painter, founder of

the Shi-jo school, 59, 60.
Masachika, Nara, sword-decorator,

289.
Masaharu, Ishiguro, sword-decorator,

302.
Masahiro, Ishiguro, sword- decorator,

302.
Masakiyo, Ishiguro, sword-decorator,

302.

Masamine, Koami, lacquerer, 361.
Masamitsu. See Yeijo.
Masamune no Busshi, sculptor,

109.
Masanaga, Nara, sword-decorator,

288, 289.
Masanobu, painter, founder of the

Kano school, 40.
Masanobu, Nara, sword-decorator,

290.

Masatsugu. See Kenjo.
Masatsune, art-founder, 143.
Masatsune, Ishiguro, sword-decorator,

301.

Masatsune, Ito, sword-decorator, 282.
Masayori, Hamano, sword- decorator,

291.

Masayoshi, Ishiguro, sword- decora-
tor, 302.
Masks, use in the No dance, 163;

as works of art, 165 ; celebrated

carvers, 165—168.
Masu-ya, artists called, 375.
Matabei, Muneta, sword-decorator,

268.

Mataemon, wood-carver, 1 50.
Matazayemon, Muneta, sword-deco-
rator, 268.
Matsumoto Kisaburo, figure-sculptor,

200.

Mayeda Toshiiye, chief of Kaga,

career, 270 ; art patron, 271.
Maze-gane, process in metal work,

3H;

Medicine box. See Inro.

Meicho, painter, 31.

Meishin. See Shigeyoshi (Meishin) .

Menesuke, Miyochin, armourer, 262.

Menuki, sword-mount, origin of dec-
oration, 217, 251. See also
Sword-furniture.

Metal work, early development of
decoration, 74, 78; in the Shoso-
in collection, 87-89 ; inlaying,
243-245> 2?2 ; graining, 245-
247 ; hammering, 312; insertion,
313; inserted inlaying, 313;
maze-gane, 314; sbibuicbi-dosbi,
314; sepia-inlaying, 315; ground-
out inlaying, 315 ; in architect-
ural decoration, 326. See also
Alloys, Bronze, Gold, Iron,
Sword- furniture.

Michitaka, Sok en Kisbo on sword-
decoration, 212—225.

Military epoch, virile character of
sculpture, no; specimens of reli-
gious sculpture, 111-114.

Ming dynasty, China, character of
pictorial art, 43.

Minjo, sword-decorator, 310.

Minkoku, sword-decorator, 310.

Miroku, mask-carver, 165.

Mirrors, ancient, 72, 96, 368 ; mag-
ical, 98; antiquity, 368.

Mitsuiye. See Kwojo.

Mitsumasa. See Jujo, Teijo.

Mitsumori. See Keijo.

Mitsune Nakai, sword-decorator, 279.

Mitsushige. See Sojuko.

Mitsutaka. See Yenjo.

Mitsutoshi. See Tsujo.

Mitsutsugu. See Tokujo.

Miyano, mask-carver, 166.

Miyata Chikugo, mask-carver, 168.

Miyochin family, armourers, 262,
267.

389

INDEX

Miyoju. See Shigeyoshi (Miyoju).

Mizuno family, sword-decorators,
272.

Mogarashi. See Kitagawa.

Mokunosuke. See Tosui Mitsunori.

Money -pouch. See Kinchaku.

Monjushiri, thirteenth-century statue
of, 113.

Mori Sosen, painter, 61.

Moriyoshi, Kuwamura, sword-deco-
rator, 271.

Morotsugu. See Shigehiro.

Motochska, sword-decorator, 310.

Motomichi, sword-decorator, 3 1 o.

Motonari, sword-decorator, 310.

Motonobu, painter, founder of the
Kano school, 40.

Muneta family, sword-decorators,
268.

Muneyuki, Umetada, sword-decora-
tor, 282.

Myojun, sculptor-priest, no.

NAGAFUSA, Koami, lacquerer, 361.
Nagasaki as an art centre, 290.
Nagashige, Koami, lacquerer, 361.
Nagata Tomoharu, lacquerer, 362.
Nagatsune, Yasui, metal-carver, 286.
Nagayoshi family, sword-decorators,

272.
Nagoshi family, art-founders, 136,

138.
Naka Mitsuyuki, Deme, mask-carver,

167.

Nakai family, sword-decorators, 279.
Nakayama, Komin, lacquerer, 362.
Nakayama Shoyeki, art-founder, 142.
Namikawa Sosuke, head of a school

of enamelers, 336, 376.
Namikawa Yasuyuki, enameler, 336,

376.
Naomichi, Muneta, sword-decorator,

269.
Naomine, Muneta, sword-decorator,

269.
Naoshige, Muneta, sword- decorator,

269.

Naoshige, Okamoto, sword-decorator,

374-

Nara, capital of Japan, art objects,
1 9 ; condition of pictorial art in
Nara epoch, 26 ; civilisation, 8i;
aspect of the city, 83.

Nara Bussbi, 109.

Nara family, sword-decorators, 276,
289, 305.

Nara ningjo, and the netsuke, 175;
form, 97, 199; history, 197-199,
369> 370.

Nature, Japanese attitude toward, 226.

Nen Kawo and the Chinese renais-
sance in Japanese art, 37.

Netsuke, origin, 174-176; decora-
tion, 176; designs in decoration,
177-185, 191; material, 177;
criterion of value, 181—183, 196;
form, 185; uniqueness, 193;
sculptors, 193, 195-197.

Nikko, mask-carver, 165.

Nikko mausoleum, interior decora-
tion, 154, 159.

Ninomiya Totei, lacquerer, 362.

Nishi Hongwan-ji, temple, interior
decoration, 154.

Nobuiye, Miyochin, armourer,
sword-guards, 263.

Nobunaga as an art patron, 150, 162.

Nobushige, painter, 35.

Nobutsune Nakai, sword-decorator,
279.

Nobuzane, painter, characteristics, I o.

Nogami Yataro, art-founder, 145.

Nomura Bunkyo, painter, 63.

Nomura family, sword- decorators,
286, 287.

Nude in art, Japanese attitude toward,
7, 125, 178, 180; Chinese atti-
tude toward, 180.

ODA NOAKI, sword-decorator, 310.
Ogata Gekko, chromo-xylographer,

5i» 63.

Ogata Kworin, lacquerer, 346, 361.
Ogawa Ritsuo, lacquerer, 348, 362.

39°

INDEX

Ogawa Shomin, lacquerer, 362.
Ohori Masatoshi, hammerer of metal,

3'2.

O-i. See Wong Wei.

Ojime, fashion, 173.

Okamoto family of Hagi, metal-
carvers, 279, 374.

Okamoto family of Kyoto, sword -
decorators, 294, 374.

Okamura Masanobu, xylographer,
46, 48.

Okano Hohaku, figure-sculptor, 199.

Okano Kijiro, sword-decorator, 310.

Okazaki Sessei, art-founder, 145.

Omori family, sword- decorators, 292,
303, 306.

Omiva Yamato Bokunyu, mask-
carver, 1 6 8.

Ono. See Jikan.

Ono Goroyemon, sculptor and
founder of the Kamakura Dai-
butsu, in.

Ooka Shunboku, xylographer, 46.

Oshima Katsujiro, art-founder, 144.

Oshima Yasutaro, art-founder, 144.

Ouishi, art-founder, 138.

PATINA, of bronze, 126, 127, 372 ;
of Japanese alloys, 233, 235 ; of
copper, 236, 372; of iron, 237;
of pewter, 317.

Perspective, in Japanese pictures, 4,
15, 58 ; in Chinese pictures, 22,
25.

Pewter, composition, 317; use, 317;
patina, 317.

Pictorial art, Japanese, character, 2 ;
decorative purpose, 3, 6 ; effect
of purpose on characteristics, 4,
3 2 ; impressionistic, 5 ; motion, 6 ;
exclusion of the nude, 7 ; igno-
rance of anatomy, 8 ; influence of
ideographs, 8, II, 31 ; styles of
touch, 9 ; manual dexterity, 9—
1 1 ; materials, 1 1 ; position of the
artist while painting, 12; man-
nerisms, 13 ; multiplication of

Pictorial art (continued):

copies, 1 3 ; effect on criticism of
inaccessibility of originals, 14; char-
acter of religious paintings, 15, 23,
30; relation to Chinese, 16, 21—
24, 26, 37—40; influence of
Buddhism, 17, 29; beginning of
secular, 27—29 ; continued pre-
cedence of religious, 29, 30 ;
technique of religious and secular,
31; first native school of secular,
31 ; Yamato school, 32, 33 ; Tosa
school, 34 ; Kose or Classical
school, 34; Takuma school, 35 ;
objects of the work of these schools,
36; caricatures, 36; renaissance of
Chinese influence, 37—41 ; periods
in development, 41 ; development
of the decorative mode, 42 ; re-
action against the Classical school,
43 > genre painting and the Popular
school, 44; development of wood-
cuts and coloured prints, 45—51 ;
analysis of the work of the Popular
school, 55-59; branches of the
Popular school, 59-62 ; present
conditions, 62-64 J effect of West-
ern ideas, 64-68 ; in architectural
decoration, 151-155, 158; an-
cient distemper painting, 152; no
frescos, 152; no portraits, 368.
See also Fine arts.

Picture-galleries, why none in Japan,
4, 14.

Popular school of pictorial art, devel-
opment of genre, 44; development
of xylography, 45-51 ; Occiden-
tal popularity, 55 ; use of colour,
56; drawing, 57—59; absence of
texture painting, 58. See also
Pictorial art.

Portraits, statue, 115; no pictorial,
368.

Puppets of Nara. See Nara ningyo.

RAIJO, sculptor, no.

Refining metals, Japanese process, 371.

391

INDEX

Rein, J. J., on patina, 372.

Relief, early designs in, 72 ; in
bronze castings, 140 ; origin and
development in metal-carving,
220, 249, 261 ; varieties in metal
carving, 241 ; in lacquer, 344.

Religious paintings, Japanese, 15, 23,
29> 3° > technique, 31. See also
Buddhism.

Renjo, Goto, sword -decorator, 223.

Repousse, process in early statutes,
75 ; in sword-decoration, 220.
See also Relief.

Ri-fu-ho, traditional carver, 193.

Rihei, Yamamoto, lacquerer, 362.

Riuki. See Nogami.

Riumin, sword-decorator, 310.

Riyoyei, Iwamoto, sword-decorator,

3°3-

Roben, artist-priest, 86.
Rwaiken, sculptor, 1 1 6.
Ryokin, wood-carver, 46.

SADAHISA, sword-decorator, 310.

Sage-mono, money-pouch, 169—171 ;
tobacco outfit, 171, 187—191 ;
medicine-box, 173, 186; origin
of the netsuke, 174-176; its
decoration, 176— r 86; en suite
designs, 191.

Saicho. See Dengyo Daishi.

Sairen, mask-carver, 1 66.

Sanehisa, Nagoshi, art-founder, 138.

Sanko, mask-carver, 165.

Sanraku, painter, 42.

Sansei-sha, firm of art- founders, 144.

Sansho, Nagoshi, art-founder, 138.

Screen painting, 3.

Sculpture, Japanese, question of foreign
influence, 19, 76, 78, 89, 193 ;
superiority, 20 ; primitive con-
ditions, 75; first sculptors, 76;
wooden images by Tori and
Shotoku, 77 ; bronze statues of
seventh century, 79, 80 ; sculptors
of the seventh century, 80 ; early
culmination in Nara epoch, 80, 83,

Sculpture (continued) :

85-89 ; influence of Buddhism,
82, 83, 106, 117-125; clay and
dry-lacquer statues, 84 ; stone
statues, 90—96 ; character of Heian
epoch, 106—109; sculptors of the
Heian epoch, 109 ; character of
Military epoch, 110—115; por-
trait, 114, 115; sculptors of
the Military epoch, 116; narrow
range of motives, 123 ; the nude
ignored, 125, 1 80; relation of the
sculptor and bronze-caster, 148 ;
development of wood-carving in
interior decorations, 149—151,
154—161 ; mask carving and carv-
ers, 164-168 ; of the netsuke,
176-186, 193 ; of the inro, 186 ;
of the pipe-case, 1 90 ; origin of
netsuke carving, 193—196 ; figure,
197—200 ; modern realism, 200 ;
modern Koun school of wood-
carvers, 201-203 ; skill and de-
mand in modern wood-carving,
203 ; Japanese knowledge of lights
in, 315; training of sculptors,
3 1 9-3 2 1 ; source of designs, 321.
See also Bronze, Fine arts, Sword-
furniture.

Seiami, lacquerer, 345, 361.

Seicho, sculptor, no.

Seigai Kanshichi, lacquerer, 362.

Seimin, art-founder, 142.

Senshiu Yoriyoshi, mask-carver, 1 68.

Senshu Yashamaru, mask-carver, 168.

Senyen, sculptor, 1 1 6.

Sesshiu, painter, 40.

Seventh Avenue academy of sculptors,
no; in Military epoch, 1 1 6. See
also Sculpture.

Shadows. See Light and shade.

Sbakudo alloy, composition, 232,
233; antiquity, 232; properties,

233-

Shakuzuru, mask-carver, 165.
Shiba Tachito, sculptor, 76 ; builds

temples, 76.

392

INDEX

Shiba Tasu-na, sculptor, 76.
Shiba Tori. See Tori Busshi.
Shibara I chidayu, lacquerer, 361.
Shibata Zeshin, lacquerer, 349, 362.
Shibayama Dosho, lacquerer, 357,

363.

Sbibuicbi, composition, 234; prop-
erties, 235; antiquity, 235.

Shibuichi-doshi, process in metal-
work, 3 1 4.

Shichirozayemon, founder, 136.

Shigehiro, Yoshioka, metal- carver,

^ 283, 284.

Shigemitsu, Omori, sword-decorator,

, .29 2-

Shigetsugu, Yoshioka, metal-carver,
283, 284.

Shigeyoshi, Umetada, sword-decora-
tor, 267.

Shigeyoshi (Meishin), Umetada,
sword-decorator, 268.

Shigeyoshi (Miyoju), Umetada,
sword- decorator, 267.

Shi-jo school of pictorial art, 59.
See also Pictorial art.

Shikongo, clay statue of, in temple
Todai-ji, 86.

Shimizu Rinkei, mask-carver, 1 66.

Shinkai Takejiro, wood-carver, 202.

Shirayama Shoya, lacquerer, 363.

Shisho Daishi, sculptor-priest, 109.

Sbitan wood, properties and use, 369.

Shoami Masanari, lacquerer, 362.

Shoami Masanobu, inlayer, 273.

Shoami Nagatsugu, inlayer, 273.

Shobei, Yamamoto, lacquerer, 361.

Shoga Shiubun, painter, 37, 40.

Shokaku. See Oshima Katsujiro.

Shoko, Iwamoto, sword-decorator,

, -3°3'

Shokwasai, lacquerer, 363.

Shoso-in collection of objects of ap-
plied art, 19, 87-89.

Shotoku, Prince, character, 77 ; as a
sculptor, 77.

Shoun, decorative-sculptor, 161.

Shoun, mask-carver, 166.

Shoyemon, Nomura, sword-deco-
rator, 287.

Shozui. See Masayori.
Shuncho, chromo-xylographer, 50.
Shunkei, sculptor-priest, 116.
Shunsho, Yamamoto, lacquerer, 361.
Shunzui, Hamano, sword-decorator,

3°3-

Shuraku, sword-decorator, 310.
Shuzan. See Tosa Mitsuoki.
Shuzui, Hamano, sword-decorator,

,. 3°3'

Silver, use in Japanese art, 231;

surfacing debased, 231, 372.
Silver Pavilion, decoration, 153.
Soami Hisatsugu, mask-carver, 166.
Soami family, sword-decorators, 269.
Sohaku, Koami, lacquerer, 345, 361.
Sqjo, Goto, sword- decorator, 220,

222.

Soju. See Shigetsugu.
Sojuko, Goto, sword -decorator, 22-2.
Sokei, Koami, lacquerer, 345, 361.
Soko, Hirata, hammerer of metal,

. 3?2'

Somin, art-founder, 143.

Somin, Yokoya, sword-decorator,

^274-276.

Sotoku. See Shigehiro.

Soyo, Yokoya, sword-decorator, 274.

Sozen, Koami, lacquerer, 345, 361.

Statues. See Bronze, Sculpture.

Stone statues, mediocre, 90, 93 ; un-
satisfactory material, 91, 96 ; Jap-
anese skill, 92 ; ancient monument,
92; buried effigies, 93; images,
94-96.

Suggestion in Japanese pictures, 5 ;
in Chinese pictures, 23.

Sukezaemon. See Jikan Yoshimitsu,
Yukan Mitsuyasu.

Sumptuary laws on chromo-xylo-
graphs, 51.

Sung dynasty, China, character of its
pictorial art, 22.

Surfacing debased metals, 231, 371.

Suwara Yasugoro, art-founder, 144.

393

INDEX

Suzuki Harunobu. See Harunobu.

Suzuki Gcnsuke, hammerer of metals,
312; originates process of inser-
tion, 313.

Suzuki Chokichi, art-founder, 145.

Suzuki Kichigoro, invents antimony
ware, 318.

Suzuki Kinyemon, sword -decorator,

303.

Sword -furniture, Japanese, early dec-
oration, 74 ; skill in decorating,
207 ; character of decoration, 208 ;
articles, 210, 211, 217-219,
250, 251 ; Japanese commentary
on decoration, 212—225; Goto
family of decorators, 212, 219—
225, 252—261 ; identification of
decorators, 212, 213, 219; styles
of metal ground, 213, 238-241 ;
grades of decorators, 214; high
ideals of master carvers, 215, 216;
antiquity of decoration, 217; tech-
nical skill and motives in decora-
tion, 227-229, 252—260, 288 ;
chisels used, 2 29 ; metals employed,
230, 232, 236 ; methods of chisel-
ling, 241-243, 247, 274; inlay-
ing, 243-245, 272; graining,
245-247 ; beginning of relief carv-
ing, 249; early field of decoration,
250-252 ; development of guard
decoration, 261—265 ; decoration
in the sixteenth century, 266-270;
decoration in the seventeenth cen-
tury, 270-286 ; enamel decoration,
285, 332 ; decoration in the eigh-
teenth century, 286—296 ; decora-
tion in the nineteenth century 296—
303, 308-3 1 1 ; termination of pro-
duction, 297 ; social influence on
decoration, 304—306; specimens of
nineteenth-century work, 306—308;
guild, 310. See also Metal-work.

Swords, bronze, 7 1 ; iron, 7 2 ; varie-
ties, 209 ; disappearance of samurai,
297. See also Sword-furniture.

Symmetry, axiom of, in art, 20.

TACHIBANA NO MORIKUMI, xylogra-

pher, 46.

Taiami, lacquerer, 345, 360.
Takaichi Makuni, sculptor, 8 1.
Takaichi Mamaro, sculptor, 81.
Takamura Koun, sculptor, 201 ;

school, 20 1.

Takao-maro, sculptor, 109.
Takashima Takakane, painter, 34.
Takatsune, Soami, sword-decorator,

269.
Takayoshi, Miyochin, armourer,

263.

Taki Katei, painter, 63.
Takioka family, puppet-makers, 370.
Takuma Tamenari, painter, school,

35 ; religious pictures, 35.
Takuma school of pictorial art, 35.

See also Pictorial art.
Takusai, art -founder, 144.
Tamakaji Zokoku, lacquerer, 362.
Tancho, decorative-sculptor, 161.
Tang dynasty, China, character of

its pictorial art, 22.
Tankai Rishi, mask-carver, 166.
Tari-maro, sculptor, 109.
Taioyemon. See Naka.
Tatsuki Chobei, lacquerer, 361.
Tea-ceremonial, Hideyoshi's influ-
ence, 136; urns, 136.
Teijo, art-founder, 143.
Teijo, Goto, sword-decorator, 222.
Temmin, sword-decorator, 310.
Tenaka Kiyohisa, sword-decorator,

310.
Teruhide, Omori, sword-decorator,

292.
Terumasa, Omori, sword-decorator,

292.
Terumoto, Omori, sword-decorator,

303-

Tetsugen. S^Naoshige (Okamoto. )

Texture not shown in Japanese pic-
tures, 59.

Theatre, influence of the No dance,
164.

Third Avenue academy of sculptors,

394

INDEX

Third Avenue academy (continued ):
no; in Military epoch, 116.
See also Sculpture.

Toba Sojo. See Kakuyu.

Tobacco, introduction, 171 ; clubs,
171; early pipes, 172; modern
fashion in outfit, 172, 187—191;
en suite decoration of outfit, 191.
See also Sage-mono.

Tohaku Mitsutaka, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Tokei, sculptor, 1 1 6.

Tokugawa epoch, influence on art,

43>J39» 27°-
Tokujo, Goto, sword-decorator, 221.

Tokuwaka Tadamasa, mask-carver,

165.

Tomi Yeisuke, art -founder, 145.
Tomochika, Omori, sword-decorator,

3°3-

Tomoharu, Okamoto, sword-deco-
rator, 279.

Tomotsugu, Okamoto, sword- deco-
rator, 279.

Tomotsune, Nakai, sword-decorator,
279.

Tomotsune, Omori, sword-decorator,

3°3-
Tomoyuki, Nakai, sword-decorator,

279.
Tori Busshi, sculptor, skill, 76, 77 ;

wooden statues, 77.
Torii family, chromo-xylographers,

48, 50.

Toriusai. See Okano Kijiro.
T'oro, development of casting, 140.
Tosa Mitsuoki, netsuke carver, 195.
Tosa school of pictorial art, 34—36.

See also Pictorial art.
Toshiharu, Nara, sword-decorator,

276.
Toshihisa, Nara, sword -decorator,

276, 374-
Toshinaga, Nara, sword-decorator,

277.
Toshiteru, Nara, sword-decorator,

276.

Tosui Mitsunori, Deme, mask-carver,

_i67.

Toun, art- founder, 143.
Toun Yasutaka, Deme, mask-carver,

167.

Toyoda Koko, metal-worker, achieve-
ments, 313, 314.
Toyoharu, Utagawa, chromo-xylog-

rapher, 50.
Toyokuni, Utagawa, chromo-xylog-

rapher, 50.
Toyonobu, Utagawa, chromo-xylog-

rapher, 50.

Tsuji family, sword-decorators, 285.
Tsujo, Goto, sword-decorator, 222,

223.
Tuke, S., on the chromo-xylograph

process, 52—55.

UCHINO HARUTOSHI, sword-decorator,

3°9-
Umetada family, swordsmiths and

decorators, 267, 282.
Unga, sculptor, 116.
Unkei, sculptor, ill; his Deva

Kings, 1 1 3 ; his Watch Dogs, 113.
Unsho, sculptor, 1 1 6.
Untaro. See Toun Yasutaka.
Utagawa family, chromo-xylogra-

phers, 50.

Uwo Hyoye, mask-carver, 166.
Uyematsu Homin, lacquerer, 363.
Uyemura family, sword-decorators,

286.

WAKABAYASHI family, sword-decora-
tors, 286.

Watanabe Hisamitsu, sword-decora-
tor, specimen of his work, 308.

Watanabe Kwazan, secretly studies
Occidental methods, 66 ; ordered
to commit suicide, 66; commem-
oration, 66 ; Western influence on
his paintings, 67.

Watanabe Seitei, painter, 51, 63 ;
influence of Western methods on,
68.

395

INDEX

Weapons, bronze, 71. Set also
Sword.

Wong Wei, Chinese painter, 22.

Wood, development of wood-engrav-
ing, 45—47, 367 ; development of
chromo-xylographs, 48-51; tech-
nique of chromo-xylographs, 51—
55 ; early wooden statues, 76-78 ;
Nara-epoch statue, 87 ; Heian-
epoch statues, 108 ; the Deva
Kings, 112; favourite material for
statues, 117; carving in interior
decoration, 150, 154-158 ; carved
masks, 163, 165 ; netsuke carv-
ings, 177 ; puppets, 194, 197-
200 ; modern carving, 200—204.

Wu Tao-tsz, Chinese painter, 22.

XYLOGRAPHY. See Wood.

YAKUSHI, sculptor, 80.

Yakushi, seventh-century bronze

statue of, 79.

Yamagawa Koji. See Koji.
Yamamoto Fukumatsu, figure- sculptor,

201.

Yamamoto family, lacquerers, 361,

362.

Yamato Mamori, mask-carver, 168.
Yamato school of pictorial art, 32,

34-36. See also Pictorial art.
Yasha, mask-carver, 165.
Yashichiro, Nagoshi, founder, invents

tea-ceremonial urn, 136 ; honours,

I37-,
Yasuchicka, Nara, sword-decorator,

276.
Yasuchika Shinsuke, sword- decorator,

3°3-

Yasui family, sword-decorators, 286.
Yasuiye, Jiyemon, art-founder, 141.
Yasuteru, Jiyemon, art-founder, 141.
Yechizen. See Toshiharu.

Yeijiro. See Ichijo.
Yeijo, Goto, sword-decorator, 221.
Yeishi, chromo-xylographer, 50.
Yeishi, Iwamoto, sword-decorator,

3°3-

Yenchin, artist-priest, 29.
Yenjo, Goto, sword-decorator, 224.
Yoji Hidetsugu, lacquerer, 361.
Yqjuro. See Nakayama Shoyeki.
Yokoya family, sword-decorators,

*74> 3°5-
Yoneharu Unkai, sculptor, 202.

Yosei, lacquerer, 363.

Yoshimichi, Miyochin, armourer, 263.

Yoshinari, mask-carver, 165.

Yoshinori, Mizuno, sword-decorator,
272.

Yoshioka Tadatsuga, sword-decora-
tor, 310.

Yoshisato, Ishiguro, sword-decorator,
302.

Yoshishige, sword-decorator, 272,

374-
Yoshitsugu, Akao, sword-decorator,

281.

Yoshitsune, Ishiguro, sword-decora-
tor, 302.

Yoshitsune, Minamoto, his armour,
205.

Yujo, Goto, sword- decorator, 217,
218, 220, 222 ; and relief carving,
249 ; field, 250, 251 ; skill, 252;
specimens of his work, 255, 256,
258.

Yukan Mitsuyasu, Deme, mask-
carver, 167.

Yusai Yasuhisa, Deme, mask-carver,
167.

Yuzayemon, wood-carver, I 50.

ZENRIUSAI GIDO. See Suwara.
Zensho, Nagoshi, art-founder, 138.
Zuiyetsu. See lyemasa.

396

NAMES, PERIODS, AND SCHOOLS OF
JAPANESE PICTORIAL ARTISTS

NAMES AND ERAS OF JAPANESE ARTIST

ARTIZANS OTHER THAN KERAMISTS AND

SCULPTORS OF SWORD FURNITURE

ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CHISELLERS
OF SWORD FURNITURE

NAMES
PERIODS AND SCHOOLS

JAPANESE PICTORIAL ARTISTS

MEANING OF LETTERS PLACED AFTER THE NAME OF EACH ARTIST

B. = Buddhist School.
Ko. ~ Kose School,
Ka. — Kasuga School.
Ta. = Takuma School.
To. — Tobaye School.
S.Y. — Sung-Yuan School.

K.
T.

(b. 1827.) (Living.)

Aimi. loth cent. Ko.
Akimoto Soyu. (Living.)
Ando Hirochika. (Living.)
Ando Hiroshige. (d. 1858.)
Aoki Suizan. (Living.)
Arai Kanchiku. (d. 1751.)
AraiTonan. (d. 1761.) K.
Araki Kwampo. (Living.) S.
Araki Kan-ichi.

M. C.

Arihisa. i4th cent. Ko.
Arimune. i2th cent. Ko.
Ariyasu. (d. 1333.) Ko.
Ariiye. (d. 1320.) Ko.
Asukai. (Court lady.) i7th cent. T.
Asuke-no-Tsunenori. toth cent. B.
Atomi Gyokushi. (Woman.) (Living.)

Atomi Kakei. (Woman.) (Living.) S.
Awadaguchi Takamitsu. (d. 1426.) T.
Awadaguchi Tsunematsu. (d. 1420.) T.
Baishun. (Son of Shunsho.) K.
Baiyei. (Son of Nobuyuki.) K.
Bamoki. (Kitagama Kango.) (d. 1820.)

M. C.

Bokusen. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.
Bonyo. 1 5th cent. C. R.

C.R. = Chinese Renaissance School.
M.C. = Modern Chinese School.

K. =: Kano School.

T. = Tosa School.

S. = Shijo School.

U. = Ukiyoye School.

M- C.
S. Y.

Chikanobu. (Son of Tsunenobu.) K.

Chin Nampin. (d. 1772.) M. C.

Chinkai. nth cent. B.

Chisen. gth cent. B.

Chiusan. nth cent. B.

Chiyo (or Mitsuhisa). (Wife of Kano

Motonobu.) K.
Cho Chikuseki. (Nagamochi.) (d. 1828.)

M. C.

Cho Gesshu. (d. 1832.) M. C.
Cho Koran. (Female.) (d. 1879.)
Cho Shunto. (Living.) M. C.
Chodensu (or Mincho). i5th cent.
Choson. 1 5th cent. S. Y.
Doki Tobu. (d. 1541.) C. R.
Doki Tomikage. (d. 1468.) C. R.
Dokura. i4th cent. S. Y.
DpnhS (or Shuo). 1 5th cent. C.R.
Eien. iithcent. B.
Eiga. i3th cent. Ta.
Eiri. loth cent. B.
Eisan. igth cent. U.
Eisen. i9th cent. U.
Eishin (IsenorGenshosai). (d. 1828.) K.
Eishin. iith cent. B.
Eitoku. 1 9th cent. K.
Eitoku Kuninobu. (d. 1582.)

PICTORIAL ARTISTS

Eitoku Takanobu. (d. 1794.) K.

Fuchino Shinsai. (d. 1823.) M. C.

Fugai. (d. 1710.) K.

Fujii Shorin. (Living.) S.

Fujita Gako. (d. 1885). M. C.

Fukuda Chokujo. (Living.) S.

FukudaHanko. (d. 1864.) M. C.

Fukuhara Yogaku (TaigadO.) (d. 1776.)
M. C.

Fukushima Ryuho. (d. 1889.) M. C.

Furuya Kogan. (Living.) T.

Furuyama Moromasa. (Son of Furu-
yama Moroshige.) U.

Furuyama Moroshige. (Pupil of Hi-
shigawa Moronobu.) U.

Fusanobu. (Son of Shunsui.) K.

Fuwa Sodo. (Living.) K.

Gagaku. (d. 1895.) M- c-

Gakusai. 15111 cent. T.

Ganku (Kishi). (d. 1838.) S.

Ganrei (Kishi). igth cent. S. (Son-in-
law of Ganku.)

Ganryo. (Son-in-law of Ganku.) S.

Gantai. (Son of Ganku.) S.

Geiami. (d. 1466.) C. R.

Genki. (d. 1797.) S.

Genryuyen Kuninawo. (Pupil of the
second Toyokuni.) U.

Geppo. (d. 1839.) M. C.

Gesha. (Pupil of Toriyama Sekiyen.)
U.

Gessen. i5th cent. C. R.

Gessen. (d. 1811.) S.

GiNankai. (d. 1751.) M. C.

Go Shunmei (Igarashi) or Kokii. Second
half of 1 8th cent. K.

Gototei Kunisada. (Pupil of the second
Toyokuni.) U.

Gugyoku. 1 5th cent. C. R.

Gyokuraku or Soyii. (Fellow-student of
Motonobu.) K.

Hada-no-Mushitaro. 8th cent. B.

Hagawa Chinchd. (d. 1754.) U.

Hakuga. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.

Hakusei. iSth cent. K.

Hakuyen. 1 7th cent. K.

Hanabusa Ippo. (Adopted son of
Itcho.) K.

Hanabusa Itcho. (d. 1724.) K.

Haneda Gesshu. (Living.) S.

Hara Arinaka. (d. 1837.) M. C.

Harazaichin. iglh cent. T.

Haruki Nanko. (d. 1839.) M. C.

Harumasa. (Son of Hokkei.) U.

Hashimoto Gaho. (Living). K. (Kano
style modified in accordance with
Western ideas.)

Hasegawa Gyokujun. (Living.) S.

Hasegawa Nobuharu. (Son of Hase-
gawa Tohaku.) C. R.

Hasegawa Settan. (d. 1843.) M. C.

Hasegawa Tocho. i7th cent. K.

Hasegawa Tohaku, )

called the 5th > i6th cent. C. R.
Sesshu. )

Hata-no-Mome. iithcent. B.

Hata-no-Munesada. iithcent. Ko.

Hayami Tsuneaki (ShungySsai). (d.
1790.) U.

Hayamizu Tsuneaki. (d. 1775.) U.

Hayase Kansen. (d. 1888.) M. C.

Hayashi Banka. (d. 1845.) M. C.

Hayashi Konyen. (Pupil of Fukuhara
Gogaku.) M. C.

Hayashi Shorin. (d. 1792.) M. C.

Hida-no-Tokoami. gth cent. Ko.

Hidemaro. (Pupil of first Kitakawa
Utamaro.) U.

Hidenobu. (d. 1635.) K.

Hidenobu. (d. 1710.) K.

Higuchi Tangetsu. (b. 1822.) (Living.)
K.

Hineno Taizan. (d. 1865.) M. C.

Hirafuku Suian. (d. 1890.) S.

Hirochika. (Son of Ryusho.) U.

Hirohisa. (d. 1828.) T.

Hirokage. (Son of Ryusho.) U.

Hiromori. (d. 1775.) T.

Hiroshige. (Son of Ando Hiroshige.)
U.

Hiroshige. (d. 1858.) U.

Hirotaka. iithcent. Ko.

Hirotsura. (d. 1864.) T.

Hiroyasu. (d. 1750.) T.

Hiroyuki. (d. 1811.) T.

Hishigawa Morofusa. (Son of Moron-
obu.) U.

Hishigawa Morohira. (Son of Hishiga-
wa Moronobu.) U.

Hishigawa Moronaga. (Son of Moro-
nobu.) U.

Hishigawa Moronobu. (d. 1714.) U.

Hishigawa Moroyoshi. (Son of Hishi-
gawa Moronobu.) U.

Hitomi Kwangetsu. (d. 1797.) M. C.

Ho Hyakusen. (d. 1755.) M. C.

Hoashi Kyou. (d. 1878.) M. C.

Hokkei. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.

Hokuba. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.

Hokusai (Katsushika Shunro, Sori, Tat-
sumasa, Taito, or Manrojin). (d.
1849.) U.

Hokusen. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.

Hokushu. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.

Hokushun. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.

Hokusu. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.

PICTORIAL ARTISTS

Hokutai. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.

Hokuun. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.

Honami Kwoyetsu. 1 7th cent. T.

Honda Kado. (d. 1879.) S.

HosodaEishi. (d. 1810.) U.

Hotta Shuko. (d. 1822.) S.

Ichijusai Kunimasa. (Pupil of the sec-
ond Toyokuni.) U.

Ichimosai Yoshitora. (Pupil of Ichiyu-
sai.) U.

Ichiyeisai Yoshitsuya. (Pupil of Ichi-
yusai.) U.

Ichiyensai Kunimaru. (Pupil of the
second Toyokuni.) U.

Ichiyusai Kuniyoshi. (d. 1861.) U.

Ifukin. (d. 1811.) M. C.

lijima Koga. (Living.) S.

Ijusai Yoshikazu. (Pupil of Ichiyusai.)
U.

Ike Taiga (or Mommei). iSthcent. M. C.

Ikeda Hansen. (b. 1825.) (Living.) M.

Ikeda Koson. (Pupil of Hoitsu.) T.

Ikeda Shinsai. (Living.) S.

Ikehara Jitsunan. (Living.) M. C.

Ikkiu. 1 5th cent. C. R.

Ikkosai Yoshimori. (Pupil of Ichiyu-
sai.) U.

Imakoji Yuzan. (d. 1845.) M. C.

Imayo Sanyo. (Living.) M. C.

Imose Tonei. (Living.) M. C.

Ippitsusai Buncho. (d. 1775.) U.

Ipposai Kuniyasu. (Pupil of the second
Toyokuni.) U.

Ipposai Yoshitsuna. (Pupil of Ichiyu-
sai.) U.

Ishida Gyokuzan. (d. 1812.) M. C.

Ishida Gyokuzan. (d. 1812.) U.

Ishikawa KSzan. (d. 1869.) M. C.

Ishikawa Toyonobu. (d. 1785.) U.

Issai Yoshinobu. (Pupil of Ichiyusai.)
U.

Issan. (d. 1763.) K.

Isshi. 1 5th cent. S. Y.

Itaya Hiromasa (Keishu.) (d. 1797.) T.

Ito Jakusai. (d. 1800.) M. C.

Ito Soto. (Pupil of Yu Hi.) M. C.

Ittosai Yoshifuji. (Pupil of Ichiyusai.)

Iwai Seisai. igih cent. M. C.
Iwase Hammu. (d. 1885.) M. C.
Iwase Kyoden. (d. 1816.) U.
Iwase Matahei. (d. 1630.) U.
Iwashima. 8th cent. B.
Izumi Morikazu. (d. 1780.) U.
Jitsuye. 9th cent. B.
Jonin. 1 3th cent. Ta.
Josen. (d. 1728.) K.

Josetsu. (d. 1420.) C. R.
Kaburagi Baikei. (d. 1803.) M. C.
Kaga no Chiyo. (Woman.) (d. 1775.)

M. C.

Kaihoku Yusetsu (Son of Yusho.) K.
Kaihoku (or Yusho). (Pupil of Eitoku.)

(d. 1615.) K.

Kakimoto Sesshin. (d. 1839.) S.
Kakuhan. nth cent. B.
Kakuyu; Toba no S5J5. 1 2th cent. To.
Kamada Gansho. (d. 1859.) S.
Kameda Bosai. (d. 1826.) M. C.
Kami-no-Suguri Mikaji. 8th cent. B.
Kami-no-Suguri Uskikai. 8th cent. B.
Kan Tainen. i8th cent. M. C.
Kanai Ushu. (d. 1857.) M. C.
Kanaye Shungaku. (d. 1811.) M. C.
Kanda Koun. (Living.) M. C.
Kandensu. i5th cent. S. Y.
Kaneko Kinryo. (d. 1817.) M. C.
Kano Ansen. (b. 1823.) (Living.) K.
Kano K6i. (Pupil of Mitsunobu.) (d.

1673.) K.

Kano Oshin. (Living.) K.
Kano Ryosen. (Living.) K.
Kano Shogyoku. (Living.) K.
Kano Tanbi. (Living.) K.
KanoYeitoku. (d. 1891.) K.
Kansai. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.
Katagiri Ranseki. (d. 1831.) M. C.
Kato Bunrei. (d. 1782.) K.
Kato Yentaku. (d. 1730.) K.
Katori Nobiko. (d. 1782.) M. C.
Katsuda Chikuo. (d. 1659.) K.
Katsukawa Shinsai. (Son of Katsu-

kawa Shunsui.) U.

Katsukawa Shunko. (Pupil of Katsu-
kawa Shunsh5.) U.
Katsukawa Shunsho. (d. 1801.) U.
Katsukawa Shunsui. (Son of Miya-

gawa Choshun.) U.
Katsukawa Shunsui, (d. 1738.) U
Katsukawa Shunyei. (d. 1819.) U.
Kawabata Gyokusho. (Living.) S.
Kawabe Mitate. (Living.) K.
Kawamura Bampo. (Pupil of Ganku.)

S.
Kawayeda Toyonobu (Rakkatei.) (d.

I735-) U.

Kei Snoki. (d. 1345.) T.
Keisai. Yoshioku. (Pupil of Ichiyusai.)

Keishin. loth cent. B.
Keishun. 1 5th cent. Ka.
Keishyoki (called also Shokei, or Hinra-

kusai). 1 5th cent. C. R.
Ken Ryotai. (d. 1774.) M. C.
KiBaitei. (d. 1812.) S.

PICTORIAL ARTISTS

Ki Tokumin. (d. 1801.) M. C.

Kikuchi Hobun. (Living.) S.

Kikuchi Yosai. (d. 1878.) M. C.

Kikumaro. (Pupil of first Kitakawa
Utamaro.) U.

Kimura Nagamitsu. (Pupil of Kano
Motonobu.) K.

Kimura Ritsugaku. (d. 1889.) K.

KinKado. (d. 1802.) M. C.

Kin Kempo. (d. 1774.) M. C.

Kinmochi. loth cent. Ko.

Kinoshita Itsuun. (d. 1866.) M. C.

Kinoshita Roshu. (d. 1879.) M. C.

Kintada. loth cent. Ko.

Kishi Chikudo. (b. 1826.) (Living.) S.

Kishi Kyugaku. (Living.) S.

Kita Busei. (d. 1856.) M. C.

Kitagawa Utamaro. (d. 1805.) U.

Kitagawa Utamaro. (Second genera-
tion.) U.

Kitao Katsunaga. (Son of Kitao Ma-
sayoshi.) U.

Kitao Masayoshi (or Kawagata Keisei).
(d. 1824.) U.

Kitao Seitan (same as Iwase Kyoden).
U.

Kitao Shigemasa. (d. 1819.) U.

Kiuhaku. (d. 1653.) K.

Kizan Setsugai. (Living.) M. C.

KoFuyo. (d. 1784.) M. C.

Ko Ryuko. (d. 1858.) M. C.

K6 Sukoku (Takahisa, or Toryuo, or Ga-
kushisai). (d. 1804.) K.

Kobu Shunman (or Toshimitsu). (d.
1815.) U.

Koikawa Shuncho. (d. 1789.) U.

Koike Tensho. (d. 1800.) M. C.

Koizumi Danzan. (d. 1854.) M. C.

Koka (2d son of Sumiyoshi Jokei). (d.
I773-) T.

Komatsubara Suikei. (d. 1834.) M. C.

Kondo Kyoharu. (d. 1720.) U.

Kono Bairei. (Living.) S.

Kono Ryosho. (Living.) M. C.

Koreshige. nth cent. Ko.

Korehisa (Hidano Kami), (d. 1320.) T.

Koryusai. (d. 1770.) U.

Koryuko. igth cent. T.

Kose-no-Kanaoka. gih cent. Ko.

Koshiba Morinao. (d. 1760.) K.

Kotei. 1 5th cent. C. R.

Koze Kinki. (Living.) S.

Kubota Beisen. (Living.) S.

Kubota Kogi. (Living.) S.

Kudara Kawanari. gth cent. Ko.
(Not generally included in the School
of Kose, but he certainly set the
style which Kose followed.)

Kukai. 9th cent. B.

Kumagaye Naohiko. (b. 1828.) (Liv-
ing.) S.

Kumayama Gyokusho. i8th cent. M. C.

KuniUnsen. (d. 1811.) M. C.

Kuniaki. (Pupil of the second Toyo-
kuni.) U.

Kunichika. (Pupil of the second Toyo-
kuni.) U.

Kunimasa. (d. 1860.) U.

Kuninobu. igth cent. K.

Kunisada. (Son of first Toyokuni.)
(d. 1864.) U.

Kunisada. (Son of first Toyokuni.)
(d. 1870.) U.

Kunitaka. (d. 1272.) T.

Kuniteru. (Pupil of the second Toyo-
kuni.) U.

Kuniyoshi. (d. 1861.) U.

Kuratani Rokuzan. (d. 1833.) M. C.

Kure Toshiaki. (d. 1781.) M. C.

Kurokawa Kigyoku. (d. 1814.) M. C.

Kusaba Haisen. (d. 1867.) M. C.

Kushihashi Yeishun. (d. 1765.) K.

Kushiro Unsen. (d. 1811.) M. C.

Kuwagata Keisai. (d. 1826.) M. C.

Kuzumi Morikage. (Pupil of Tanyu.)
K.

Kwai Getsudo (Doho, or Ochi). (d.

1725.) u.

Kyozen. nth cent. B.
Kyuyen. i7th cent. K.
Kyuzan. 1 7th and 1 8th cent. K.
Maruyama Okio. (d. 1795.) S.
Masanobu. (d. 1490.) K.
Masanobu. (d. 1662.) K.
Matsumoto Fuko. (Living.) M. C.
Matsumura Keibun. (d. 1844.) S.
Matsumura Gekkei (or Goshun). (d.

1811.) S.
Matsuno Baizan. Second half of i8th

cent. K.

Matsuno Baizan. (d. 1857.) M. C.
Mayeda Kwangyo. (Living.) T.
Megata Banson. (d. 1880.) M. C.
Michinobu. (d. 1792.) K.
Mikuma Katen. (d. 1794.) M. C.
Minagawa Kien. i8th cent. M. C.
Minamoto Musashi. (d. 1645.) K.
Mitani Toko. (d. 1775.) M. C.
Mitsuaki. (d. 1348.) T.
Mitsuaki. i3th cent. T.
Mitsuaki. i4th cent. T.
Mitsubumi. i8th cent. T.
Mitsuchika. isth cent. T.
Mitsuhide. i3th cent. T.
Mitsuhiro. i5th cent. T.
Mitsukiyo. (d. 1764.) T.

PICTORIAL ARTISTS

Mitsukuni. i5th cent. T.
Mitsukuni. i6th cent. T.
Mitsumasa i4th cent. T.
Mitsumochi. i5th cent. T.
Mitsumoto. (d. 1569.) T.
Mitsunaga. i2th ce^nt. Ka.
Mitsunobu. (d. 1473.) T.
Mitsunobu (called also Ukyo-no-Nashin).

(Son of Eitoku.) (d. 1608.) K.
Mitsuoki. (d. 1693.) T.
Mitsuroku. i8th cent. T.
Mitsusada. i8th cent. T.
Mitsushige. (d. 1393.) T.
Mitsushige. 1 5th cent. T.
Mitsusuke. (d. 1710.) T.
Mitsutoki. 1 8th cent. T.
Mitsuyasu. (d. 1322.) Ko.
Mitsuyori. (d. 1710.) T.
Mitsuyoshi. (d. 1613.) T.
Mitsuyoshi. (d. 1772.) T.
Mitsuzumi. i8th cent. T.
Miyagawa Choshun. (d. 1730.) U.
Miyagawa Shunsui (or Sh5sen). (Son

of Miyagawa Choshun.) U.
Miyake Yeisai. (d. 1878.) M. C.
Mizuo Rypzen. (d. 1832.) M. C.
Mochizuki Gyokusen. (d. 1755.) M. C.
Mochizuki Gyokusen. (Pupil of Gek-

kei.) (Son of first Mochizuki.)

(Living.) S.

MokuFuyo. (d. 1816.) M. C.
Mokwan. i4th cent. S. Y.
Momoda Ryuyei. (d. 1698.) K.
Mori Kwansai. (Living.) S.
Mori Ransai. (d. 1801.) M. C.
Mori Shuhd. (d. 1823.) S.
Mori Sosen. (d. 1822.) S.
Mori Tetsuzan. (Adopted son of Mori

Sosen.) S.

Mori Yeishun. igth cent. S.
Morikawa Chikuso. (d. 1829.) M. C.
Morikawa Sobun. (Living.) S.
Morinobu, vide Tanyu.
Motomitsu. nth cent. Ka.
Motonobu. (d. 1559.) K.
Mototoshi. (Son of Ryojo.) K.
Munehisa. I3th cent. Ko.
Munenobu. (d. 1562.) K.
Muneyoshi. i2th cent. Ko.
Murakami Shodo. (d. 1841.) S.
Murase Chotei. (d. 1818.) M. C.
Murase Gyokuden. (Living.) S.
Myogy5. nth cent. B.
Myojun. nth cent. B.
Myotaku. i4th cent. S. Y.
Nagaari. i3th cent. Ko.
Nagaharu. i4th cent. T.
Nagasawa Rosetsu, (d. 1799.) S.

Nagayuki. i3th cent. Ka.
Nakabayashi Chikudo. (d. 1853.) M. C.
Nakagawa Royetsu. (Living.) S.
Nakanishi Koseki. (d. 1883.) S.
Nakano Kimei. (Living.) T.
Nakaye Ranko. (d. 1830.) M. C.
Naonobu (Jitekisai). (d. 1650.) K.
Nen Kao. i4th cent. S. Y.
Nishimura Nantei. (Pupil of Okio.)

(d. 1834.) S.
Nishimura Shigenaga. (Pupil of Torii

Kyonobu.) U.

Nishina Kinsen (d. 1830.) M. C.
Nishiyama Hoyen. (d. 1867.) S.
Niwa Kagen. (d. 1786.) M. C.
Noami. (d. 1450.) C. R.
Nobuharu. i4th cent. Ka.
Nobusada. i2th cent. Ka.
Nobushige. nth cent. Ko.
Nobuyuki. i7th cent. K.
Nobuzane. i3th cent. T.
Noguchi Yukoku. (Living.) M. C.
Noguchi Shohin. (Woman.) (Living.)

M. C.

Nomura Bunkyo. (Living.) S.
Nomura Sotatsu. (d. 1630.) T.
Norinobu. (d. 1731.) K.
Noro Kaiseki. (d. 1828.) M. C.
Nukina Kiaoku. (d. 1863.) M. C.
ObaGakusen. (b. 1820.) (Living). M. C.
Oda Chikkoku. (d. 1830.) M. C.
Oda Hyakkoku (Kaisen). (Pupil of Gek-

kei.) (d. 1862.) S.
Odagiri Shunko. (Living.) T.
Ogata Kenzan (Shinsei, or Shisui, or

Reikai, or Tom). Brother of Ogata

Korin. T.
Ogata Korin (Jomei, or Kosei, or H6-

shuku). (d. 1716.) T.
Ogata Korai. (d. 1716.) K.
Ogen. nth cent. B.
Ogura Tokei. Early igth cent. M. C.
Oguri Sotan. (d. 1440.) C. R.
OkadaBeisan. (d. 1818.) M. C.
Okada Hanko. (d. 1846.) M. C.
Okada Kanrin. (d. 1845.) M- c-
Okada Tameyasu. (d. 1863.) M. C.
Okada Tameyasu (Reizei Saburo). (d.

1844.) T.

Okamoto Shuki. (d. 1861.) M. C.
Okamoto Toyohiko. (Pupil of Gekkei.)

(d. 1845.) S.

Oku Bummei. igth cent. S.
Okubo Shibutsu. (d. 1837.) S.
Okumura Masanobu. (d. 1730.) U.
Okumura Sekiran. (Living.) S.
Okura Ritsuzan. (d. 1846.) M. C.
Onishi Chinnen. (d. 1847.) M. C.

PICTORIAL ARTISTS

Ono Tsu. (d. 1580.) C. R.

Ooka Shunboku. (d. 1760.) K.

0-Riu. (Female artist.) (d. 1735.) U.

Oshikatau. 8th cent. B.

Oshima Fuyo. i8th cent. M. C.

Otokashi. 7th cent. B.

Otsu Matahei. (d. 1725.) U.

Rai Sanyo, (d. 1832.) M. C.

Raisho. nth cent. B.

Raishu. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.

Raito. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.

Rakaku Jakusai. 1 5th cent. T.

Renzan. (Adopted son of Ganku.) S.

Ryojo. (d. 1620.) K.

Ryonin. nth cent. B.

Ryoshiu. nth cent. B.

Ryoson. i3th cent. Ta.

Ryotaku. (Son of Suyeyori.) K.

Ryu Rikyo (Yanagisawa Kien). (d.

1758.) M. C.

Ryush.5. (Son of Ando Hiroshige.) U.
Sadahide. (Pupil of the second Toyo-

kuni.) U.

Sadanobu. (d. 1673.) K.
Saga Chokuan. i6th cent. C. R.
Saga Nichokuan. (Son of Chokuan.)

C. R.

Saicho. 9th cent. B.
Saito Hokusai. (Son of Hokusai.) U.
Sakai Hoitsu (Bunsen, or Ishin, or

Torin, or Oson, or Teihakushi). (d.

1828.) T.

Sakurai Sekkan. (d. 1790.) M. C.
Sakuma Soyen. (d. 1828.) S.
Sanraku. (d. 1635.) K.
Sansetsu. (d. 1651.) K.
Sasaki Seitsu. (d. 1856.) M. C.
Satake Yeikai. (d. 1874.) M. C.
Sato Kwobi. (d. 1857.) M. C.
Sawaki Sushiki. (d. 1772.) K.
Seisen (Kwaishinsai). (d. 1846.) K.
•Seki Sashu. (d. 1875.) M. C.
Sekicho. (Pupil of Toriyama Sekiyen.)

Sekkoyen. (d. 1805.) M. C.
Sen HittO. igth cent, (early). M. C.
Sesshu. (d. 1506.) C. R.
Sesson. (Pupil of Sesshu.) C. R.
Settaku. i5th cent. C. R.
Sha Buson. (d. 1783.) M. C.
Shiba Kokan. (d. 1818.) M. C.
Shiba Kokan. (d. 1818.) U.
Shiba Jijo. 1 5th cent. Ka.
Shiba Kwanshin. (d. 1437.) T.
Shiba Kwanshin. i5th cent. Ka.
Shiba Rinken. 1 5th cent. Ka.
Shiba Sonkai. i5th cent. Ka.
Shibata Gikin. (d. 1819.) S.

Shibata Zeshin. (d. 1895.) S.

ShigetO. iithcent. B.

Shikimaro. (Pupil of first Kitakawa

Utamaro.) U.

Shimada Motonao. (d. 1830.) S.
Shimasaki Umpo. ,(d. 1828,) M. C.
Shimizu Kyokuka. (d. 1819.) M. C.
Shimokawabe Jusui. (d. 1820.) U.
Shinsai. (Pupil of Hokusai.) U.
Shinsho. (Son of Suyeyori.) K.
Shirai Naokata. (Pupil of Okio.) S.
Shiyo. (Pupil of Toriyama Sekiyen.) U.
Shoga. 1 3th cent. Ta.
Shojo Gyosai. (d. 1889.) M. C.
Shojo (or Shosho-o), called Shokado. (d.

1639.) K.

Shokatsu Kan. (d. 1780.) K.
Shokei. 1 5th cent. Ta.
Shosei. iithcent. B.
Shosen. (d. 1880.) K.
Shoyei (called also Naonobu). (d. 1592.)

K.
Sh5yei. (4th son of Naonobu.) (d. 1615.)

K.
Shoyei. (5th son of Shoyei) (Naonobu).

(d. 1620.) K.
Shubun. (d. 1420.) C. R.
Shuga. (Son of Kansai.) U.
Shugetsu. (Pupil of Sesshu.) C. R.
Shiiko. iithcent. Ko.
Shuko. (Fellow student of Sesshu.}

C.R.

Shunsho. 1 7th cent. K.
Shunsui. (Son of Shunsho.) K.
Shusen. iSth cent. K.
Shutoku. (Pupil of Sesshu.) C. R.
So Shigan. (d. 1770.) M. C.
So Shiseki. (d. 1774.) M. C.
So Shizan. (d. 1790.) M. C.
Soami. (d. 1515.) C. R.
Soga Jasoku. (d. 1467.) C. R.
Soga Shohaku. (d. 1783.) M. C.
Soga Shohaku (Iki or lyasoku-ken, or

Kishinsai). (d. 1783.) K.
Sokuyo. i8th cent. K.
Soritsu. (Pupil of Oguri Sotan.) i5th

cent. C. R.

Sosen (Kano Sosen, not to be con-
founded with Mori Sosen). I7th

cent. K.

Soyei. 1 5th cent. C.R.
Soyen. (Pupil of Sesshu.) C. R.
Sugai Baikan. (d. 1844.) M. C.
Sugawara Hakuryo. (Living.) M. C.«
Sumiye Buzen. (d. 1810.) M. C.
Sumiyoshi Gukei. (d. 1705.) T.
Sumiyoshi Jokei. (d. 1620.) T.
Sumiyoshi Keion. (d. 1202.) T.

PICTORIAL ARTISTS

Sumiyoshi Keinin. i3th cent. T.
Sumiyoshi Naiki. igth cent. T.
Suyeyori. (Son of Motonobu.) (d.

1571.) .K.

Suzuki Fuigen. (Living.) S.
Suzuki Gako. (d. 1870.) M. C.
Suzuki Harunobu. (d. 1770.) U.
Suzuki Hyakunen. (b. 1827.) (Living.)

M. C.
Suzuki Hyakunen (Taichin). (Living.)

S.
Suzuki Hyakusen (Shonen). (Living.)

Suzuki Kiitsu. (Pupil of Hoitsu.) T.
Suzuki Nanrei. (Pupil of Toyo.) (d.

1844.) S.

Suzuki Nanrei. (d. 1847.) M. C.
Taaka Nikka. (Pupil of Okamoto

Toyohiko.) S.

Tachibana Minko. (d. 1765.) U.
Tachibana Morikuni. (d. 1624.) K.
Tachibe-no-komaro. 7th cent. B.
Tachiwara Kyosho. (d. 1840.) M. C.
Tadanobu. igth cent. K.
Taiso Yoshitoshi. (Pupil of Ichiyusai.)

Takachika. i2th cent. Ka.
Takahashi Kydson. (d. 1868.) M. C.
Takahisa Aigai. (d. 1843.) M. C.
Takakane. i3th cent. Ta.
Takamitsu. 1 5th cent. T.
Takamori. (d. 1300.) T.
Takamori. i4th cent. T.
Takanobu (or Ukoon Shogen.) (d.

1618.) K.

Takanobu. i2th cent. Ka.
Takashima Chiharu. (d. 1859.) T. '
Takashima Takakane. (d. 1309.) T.
Takata Eiho. Second half of iSth

cent. K.

Takayoshi. nth cent. Ka.
Takeda Harunobu (or Shingen.) i6th

cent. K.

Takehara Shuncho. (d. 1730.) U.
Takehara Shuncho. (d. 1745.) U.
Takehara Shunsen. (d. 1770.) U.
Taki Katei. (Living.) S.
Tamate Shoshu. (d. 1875.) M. C.
Tamenari. i2th cent. Ta.
Tameto. 1 2th cent. Ta.
Tanaka Nikka. (d. 1841.) S.
Tanaka Totsugen. (d. 1823.) T.
Tanaka Yubi. (Living.) S.
Tanboku. (d. 1832.) K.
Tani Buncho. (d. 1841.) M. C.
Tani Bunitsu. (d. 1820.) M. C.
Tangyu. (d. 1714-) K.
Taniguchi Aizan. (Living.) M. C.

Tanjo. (d. 1756.) K.

Tanomura Chikuden. (d. 1835.) M. C.

Tanomura Chokunyu. (b. 1817.) (Liv-
ing.) M. C.

Tanrin. (d. 1777.) K.

Tansen. (d. 1728.) K.

Tansetsu. (Son of Tanyu.) K.

Tanshin (Morimichi). (d. 1835.) K.

Tanshin (Morimasa). (Son of Tanyu.)
K.

Tanyen (Morihisa). :8th cent. K.

Tanyen (Morizane). (d. 1853.) K.

Tanyu (Kano Morinobu). (d. 1674.) K.

TasakiSoun. (b. 1815.) (Living.) M. C.

Tateba Shocho. (d. 1813.) M. C.

Tatebayashi Kaseki (Shirai). iSth cent.
T.

Teijo. nth cent. B.

To Kyujo. (d. 1802.) M. C.

To Toyo. (d. 1839.) S.

Todo Ryoun. (d. 1887.) M. C.

Toichi OgO. (Living.) M. C.

Tokinobu. (d. 1678.) K.

Tokuta Chikuin. (d. 1755.) K.

Torii Kiyofusa. (Son of the fourth
Torii Kiyomitsu.) U.

Torii Kiyomasa. (Son of Torii Kiyo-
nobu.) U.

Torii Kyomitsu. (Son of Torii Kiyo-
masa.) U.

Torii Kiyomitsu. (Grandson of Torii
Kiyomasa.) U.

Torii Kiyomitsu. (Great grandson of
Torii Kiyomasa.) U.

Torii Kiyomitsu. (Great-great-grand-
son of Torii Kiyomasa.) U.

Torii Kiyomune. (Son of the third Torii
Kiyomitsu.) U.

Torii Kiyonaga. (Son of the first Torii
Kiyomitsu.) U.

Torii Kyonobu. (d. 1730.) U.

Torii Kiyotsune. (Son of Torii Kiyo-
naga.) U.

Toriyama Sekigen. (d. 1768.) U.

Tosa no Shoi. (d. 1612.) U.

Toshitsugu. 8th cent. B.

Toshun. 1 5th cent. C. R.

Toshun (Yoshinobu). iSth cent. K.

Totoki Baigai. (d. 1804.) M. C.

Totoki Baikei. (d. 1803.) M. C.

T6un (Suwagadai Kano). (Pupil of
Tanyu.) K.

Toyo. (Pupil of Sesshu.) C. R.

Toyokiyo. (Son of Utagawa Toyohiro.)
U.

Toyonobu. (Pupil of the first Kunisa-
da.) U.

Tsubaki Chinzan. (d. 1854.) M. C.

Tsugimaro. 8th cent. B.
Tsukioka Settei. (d. 1786.) U.
Tsukioka Settei. (d. 1786.) M. C.
Tsunemoto. 1 2th cent. To.
Tsunenobu. (d. 1713.) K.
Tsunetaka. ijth cent. T.
Tsurugawa Tanshin. (Living.) K.
Tsuruzawa Tanzan. (d. 1700.) K.
Tsutsumi Masakatsu. (d. 1780.) U.
Ukita Ikkei (Kai). (Pupil of Tanaka

Totsugen.) (d. 1859.) T.
Unkaku Togan. (d. 1585.) C. R.
Unkaku Toeki. (Son of Togan.) C. R.
Unkaku Toyo. (Son of Unkaku Toeki.)

1 7th cent. K.
Unkei. (d. 1505.) C. R.
Unshitsu. (d. 1827.) M. C.
Uozumi Kwangyo. (d. 1896.) T.
Uragami Gyokudo. (d. 1820.) M. C.
Uragami Shunkin. (d. 1846.) M. C.
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Itchinsai). (d.

1861.) U.

Utagawa Toyoharu. (d. 1814.) U.
Utagawa Toyohiro. (d. 1828.) U.
Utagawa Toyokuni (or Kunisada). (It-

chosai.) (d. 1825.) U.
Utagawa Toyokuni (Kochoro, or Goto-

tei ; the third Toyokuni). (d. 1864.)

Watanabe Gentai. (d. 1822.) M. C.
Watanabe Kwazan. (d. 1829.) M. C.
Watanabe Kyoshi. (d. 1855.) T.
Watanabe Rogaku. (d. 1813.) S.
Watanabe Shiko. (Contemporary of

Okio.) T.

Watanabe Shoka. (d. 1887.) M. C.
Yagi Sonsho. (d. 1836.) M. C.
Yamada Bunko. (Living.) S.
Yamada Doan. loth cent. C. R.
Yamada Hoshu. (d. 1814.) M. C.
Yamaguchi Sekkei. (d. 1730.) K.
Yamaguchi Soken. (Pupil of Okio.) S.
Yamana Kwangi. (Living.) T.
Yamamoto Baiitsu. (d. 1857.) M. C.
Yamamoto Jokoku. (Living.) S.
Yamamoto Joshun. (d. 1783.) M. C.
Yamamoto Sotei. (Pupil of Tanyu). K.
Yamamoto Yoshinobu. (d. 1772.) U.
Yamato-no-Ataye. 7th cent. B.
Yamawaki Toki. (Pupil of Gekkei.)

(d. 1842.) S.

Yamazaki T5sen. (Living.) S.

Yasuda Beisai. (d. 1888.) M. C.

Yasuda Rozan. (d. 1883.) M. C.

Yasunobu. (d. 1798.) K. .

Yasunobu. (d. 1685.) K.

Yeigaku. (d. 1836.) K.

Yeihaku. i8th cent. K.

Yeijo. 1 8th cent. K.

YeikyS. (d. 1755.) K.

Yeini. (d. 1697.) K.

Yeiryo. i8th cent. K.

Yeisen. (d. 1790.) K.

Yeisen. (d. 1731.) K.

Yeisetsu. igth cent. K.

Yeisho. (d. 1710.) K.

Yeishu. 1 5th cent. T.

Yeishun. i8th and igth cent. K.

Yenchin. gth cent. B.

Yendo Kwanshu. (5.1829.) (Living.)

Yogetsu. (Pupil of Sesshu.) C. R.
Yokoyama Kwazan. (Pupil of Ganku.)

d. 1839. S.
Yosen. (d. 1808.) K.
Yosha Busan (called also Shunsei or

Yahantei). (d. 1783.) M. C.
Yoshichika. loth cent. B.
Yoshimaro. (Pupil of first Kitakawa

Utamaro ) U.
Yoshimitsu. (cl. 1301.) T.
Yoshimura Kokei. (Pupil of Okio.) (d.

1836.) S.

Yoshimura Shuzan. i8th cent. K.
Yoshimura Tansen. (d. 1778.) K.
Yoshitaka. loth cent. B.
Yoshizawa Setsuan. (Living.) M. C.
Yuge Tosatsu. (Pupil of Shugetsu.)

C. R.

Yuhi (Kumashiro). (d. 1772.) M. C.
Yukihide. i5th cent. T.
Yukihiro. i4th cent. T.
Yukimaro. (Pupil of first Kitakawa Uta-
maro.) U.

Yukimitsu. (d. 1359). T.
Yukinobu (or Utanosuke). (Son of Ma-

sanobu.) K.

Yukitada. i4th cent. Ko.
Yuyeki (Tomomasu). 1 7th cent. K.
Yuzen. (d. 1720.) U.

NAMES AND ERAS

JAPANESE ARTIST ARTIZANS

OTHER THAN

KERAMISTS AND SCULPTORS OF
SWORD-FURNITURE

N.B. A few of the names in this list appear also in the List of Sword-Furniture
Chisellers. That is because of the general character of their work.

Aichiku. igthcent. (d. 1896.) A wood-
carver of Echizen.

Akiyama. Present day. Wood-carver
in the style of Matsumoto Kisaburo,
whom he accompanied to Tokyo
from Kumamoto.

Anraku. igth cent. (d. 1893.) A net-
suke-carver of Osaka, pupil of
Kaigyokusai.

Arakawa. Beiun. Present day. A
skilled wood-carver of Tokyo, mid-
way between the old and the new
schools.

Araki. Kihei. i yth cent. Pupil of Na-
gosVii Masataka. Metal-founder.

Ariyoshi. Nagato. igth cent. (d. 1890.)
Originally a mask-carver of great
skill, he became a worker in metals
after 1870. Some fine netsuke in the
form of masks were produced by
him. His art name was Mori Ryoken.

Asada. Sahichi. Present day. A
highly skilled worker in cloisonne
enamel, chiefly remarkable for trans-
luced pastes run over gold and sil-
ver, which are chiselled in various
designs, or carry subjects worked in
enamels of stronger colours.

Asahi. Sho. igth cent. (d. 1890). A
carver and engraver of Tokyo.

Asahi. Meido. Present day. A skilled
ivory -carver of Tokyo ; pupil of
Gyokkin of Kyoto and Ishikawa
Mitsuaki of Tokyo.

Asahi. Gyokuzan. Present day. A
netsuke-carver of Kyoto, celebrated
for chiselling skulls.

Asai. Hidejiro. Worker in cloisonne
enamels ; pupil of Hara Fujio.

Asai. Bansaburo. A worker in cloi-
sonne enamels ; pupil of Kaji Tsune-
kichi.

Awada-guchi. A mark found on net-
suke of Miwa's time. It has not
been identified.

Bazan. Present day. A highly skilled
wood-carver of Gifu. He has carved
a string of cash on a straw rope so
that each cash moves.

Benkichi. igth cent. (d. 1865.) A
wood-carver of Ono in Kaga. He
excelled in chiselling a multitude of
cranes, deer, etc., in relief on a flat
field. Also made mechanical toys.

Chiujiro. (d. 1800.) Metal-founder.

Chounsai. igth cent. (d. 1885.) A net-
suke-shi of Yedo (Tokyo) ; pupil of
Tomochika.

Daikokuya. Toyemon. iSth cent. A
netsuke-carver of Kyoto.

Deme. Uman. iSth cent. The Soken
Kisho says : " Deme was a native of
Yedo, and a mask-maker by profes-
sion. It appears that this artist
carved as a pastime only. He had
a natural gift for carving netsuke in
the form of a mask, and none could
surpass him in such work. There

ARTIST ARTIZANS

was also a sculptor named Deme Jo-
man, supposed to be a son of Deme
Uman, who possessed great glyptic
ability. No carvings except those
of masks bear the name " Deme."

Doki. Minasuke. Worker in cloisonne
enamels; pupil of Hara Fujio.

Donin. i7th cent. Metal-founder.

DSraku. igth cent. (d. 1895.) A net-
suke - carver of Osaka ; pupil of
Kaigyokusai.

Doya. 1 7th cent. Called also Yaichiro
or Yazayemon. Art names, Yoshi-
toshi and Doya. Metal-founder.

Doya. iyth and 1 8th cent. Called also
Yaichiro or Yazayemon. Art name,
Doya. Metal-founder.

Doya. 1 8th cent. Called also Yaza-
yemon, or Tomoyoshi. Metal-
founder.

Doya. 1 8th cent. Ryoshin. Metal-
founder.

Doya. 1 8th cent. Shichiyemon. Metal-
founder.

Doya. 1 9th cent. Shichiyemon, or Ya-
zayemon. Metal-founder.

f Workers in cloi-

Fugita. Shigeo. I sonne enamels ;

Fugita. Yonejiro. ] pupils of Hara
^ Fujio.

Fukawa. Kazuo. Present day. An
eminent metal-sculptor.

Fusa. 1 8th cent. (d. 1776.) A carver of
Nara-mingyo. Called also " Kogan
Shoyei Shinji," and commonly
" Manzoku."

Garaku. i8th cent. A skilled netsuke-
carver of Osaka and pupil of Tawa-
raya Dembei.

Gechiu. iSth cent. The Soken Kisho
says.: " Nothing is known of this
artist, but his name appears upon
some fine carvings."

Genryosai. i8th cent. An ivory-carver
of Kyoto ; one of the best of the
early netsuke-shi. A contemporary
of Miwa, who worked in wood.
Genryosai and Miwa were called the
nifuku-tsui (pair of pictures) of their
century.

Gessho. 1 8th cent. (end). A netsuke-
carver of Nagoya. Bold and some-
what rough in style.

Gido. 1 9th cent. (d. 1837.) A great
bronze-caster of Yedo. Zenriusai
Gido was his art name ; Suwara
Yasugoro, his ordinary name.

Giji. (d. 1776.) Hikokuro. Metal-caster.

GoheL (d. 1782.) Metal-founder.

Gorozayemon. (d. 1786.) Metal-founder.

Gyokkin. igth cent. (d. 1885.) A skilled
netsuke-shi of Kyoto.

Gyokumin. igth cent. (d. 1861.) A net-
suke-shi of Osaka.

Hada. Kusaroku. Present time. Pupil
of Shihb Ampei. .A great expert of
Kaga, where many of the finest mod-
ern bronzes are made.

Hakuriu. igth cent. (d. 1873.) A net-
suke-carver of Kyoto. He was a
samurai of Unshiu, and his favorite
subjects were dragons, tigers, and
Dogs of Fo (shishi).

Hananuma. Masakichi. Present day.
A wood-carver of Yokohama who
works for the foreign market.

Hara. Fujio. Worker in cloisonne en-
amels ; pupil of Hara Kiyozaburo.

Hara. Kiyosaburo. A worker in cloi-
sonne enamels; pupil of Isaburo.

Haruchika. i8th cent. A skilled net-
suke-carver.

Hasegawa. Kumazo. Present day.
A highly skilled metal-founder of
Tokyo ; works in the style of the
great bronze casters Seimin and
Toun.

Hata. Tomofusa. i8th cent. A net-
suke-carver of Mimasaka. He was
a lacquerer by profession, and his
netsuk.es are all lacquered.

Hayashi. Shogoro. A worker in cloi-
sonne enamels; pupil of Kaji Tsune-
kichi.

Hidari. Jingoro. i6th and i7th cent,
(d. 1635.) One of the greatest of
Japanese wood-carvers.

Hidari. Soshin. i7th cent. Son of
Hidari Jingoro, and an almost equally
skilled sculptor in wood.

Hidari. Katsumasa. I7th and i8th
cent. Grandson of Hidari Jingoro.
A renowned sculptor in wood.

Hidari. Issan. i8th cent. (end). A
skilled carver of wooden netsuke
who worked in Yedo.

Hijikata. Tobioye. A worker in cloi-
sonne enamels ; pupil of Kaji Tsune-
kichi.

Hirata. Soko. Present day. A skilled
uchimono-shi of Tokyo.

Hiratsuka, Mohei. 1 9th cent, (d. 1840.)
A worker in cloisonne enamel who
used translucid pastes with success
for making ojime, Kagami-buta, and
Kama-mono.

ARTIST A RTIZ ANS

Hiratsuka. Kinnosuke. Present day.
Son of Hiratsukt Mohei. A skilled
worker in cloisonne enamels. Re-
markable for having introduced
(1887) the style known as Hirata-
jippo ; namely, enamel designs sus-
pended in the reticulations of silver
vases chiselled d jour.

Hitotsuyanagi. Kisuke. A worker in
cloisonne enamels ; pupil of Kato
Yasubiyoye.

Hojutsu. igth cent. (d. 1885.) A net-
suke-shi of Kyoto, one of the
greatest in Japan. He had a com-
petence of his own as a samurai,
and his profession was that of
instructor in military science, — as
was the case with Ogino Shomin,
— but his passionate love for carv-
ing compelled him to take it up. A
pupil of Ogino Shomin, and after-
wards of Shibayama Soichi, he
learned from the latter the art of
inlaying with mother-of-pearl and
decorating with gold lacquer; and
many of his productions were thus
distinguished. Art name, Mei-
kunsai.

Hori. Yosai. (d. 1796.) Said to have
been a pupil of Yamashiro Hori
Joho. Metal-founder.

Hoshin. i8th cent. A netsuke-carver
of Kyoto. The Soken Kisho says :
" He worked in ivory, and made
a specialty of carving a partially
opened clam with buildings inside,
and other subjects of that class."

N.B. The buildings in the clam are supposed
to be the palace of the dragon king — Riu-no-jo
— at the bottom of the ocean. This motive has
often been copied.

Houn. igth cent (d. 1858.) A busshi
of Yedo (Tokyo) ; brother of Hozan.

Hozan. igth cent. (d. 1860.) A skilled
busshi of Yedo (Tokyo).

Ichiraku. i8th cent. A netsuke-maker
of Sakai in Izumi. The Soken
Kisho says: "His family name was
Tsuchiya, and his art-name Betoken.
He was the first to make girdle-
pendants by plaiting rattans or fine
wistaria. His calabash-shaped net-
suke of these materials are well-
known." (This style of plaiting
was suggested originally by Chinese
snuff -bottles. It is called " Ichiraku-
gri," after the name of its Japanese
originator.)

Ikkan. igth cent. (d. 1885.) A net-
suke-carver of Nagoya.

Ikko. 1 9th cent. (d. 1858.) A net-
suke-carver of Kyoto, who worked
also in the Shibayama style. He is
said to have been regarded as an
imbecile, and to have been unable
to tie his own girdle up to the age
of 19. Nevertheless, without re-
ceiving any instruction, he became a
great carver.

Ikkosai. igth cent. (d. iSSo) A net-
suke-carver of Yedo ; pupil of To-
mochika.

Insai. 1 8th cent. A netsuke-carver of
Osaka. The Soken Kisho says : " He
became famous for carving ivory
netsuke representing the Sarumaw-
ashi (monkey-leader).

Isaburo. A worker in cloisonne enam-
els; pupil of Kaji Tsunekichi.

Ishikawa (Mitsuaki). igth cent. (d.
1835.) A wood-carver of Kyoto.

Ishikawa (Toyomitsu). Present day.
An ivory caiver of great skill ; pupil
of Kikugawa Masamitsu. He was
the first to receive the title of Gigei-
in (artist to the Imperial Court) in
1890. Father of Ishikawa Mitsuaki.
Works in Tokyo. Called also
Komei.

Ishikawa. Mitsuaki. Present day. One
of the leading ivory-carvers of the
era. His ancestors, through seven
generations, were sculptors. His
specialty is the carving of barn-door
fowls, monkeys, human figures, etc.,
which he fastens into wooden plaques.
Mitsuaki is a teacher in the Fine
Arts School, and has a large atelier
of his own in Tokyo, where many
netsuke and ivory alcove ornaments
are produced for the foreign market.

Ishikawa. Katsuyemon. igth cent,
(early part). A skilled decorative
wood-carver (miya-bori-shi) of Yedo.
He executed the carvings on some
of the gates of several temples and
mausolea; notably those of Nikko,
Hongwan-ji,andShiba. Grandfather
of Ishikawa Mitsuaki.

Ittan. igth cent, (middle). A net-
suke-carver of Nagoya.

ItO. Tosuke. A worker in cloisonne
enamels ; pupil of Kaji Tsunekichi.

ItO. Katsumi Masataka. Present day.
(b. 1829.) Originally called Shosai.
A metal sculptor of the highest skill ;

ARTIST ARTIZ ANS

loth representative of the Ito family,
founded by Ito Masanaga, who with
all his descendants down to the pres-
ent representative, were makers of
sword-guards for the Tokugawa
Shoguns. A pupil of the celebrated
Toriusai; he was adopted into the
Ito family in 1860, his rival for that
honour being Kano Natsuo. After
1867 he began to carve plaques,
paper-weights, etc. He uses the
marks Katsumi and Taikiu.

Ito. Kojiro. Present day. A jade-
carver of Echizen.

Itsumin. Present day. A netsuke-
carver of Nagoya, skilled in the
style called Jidai-bori (ancient car-
ving) ; i.e., the greatest effect with
the smallest use of the chisel.

lyemasa. (d. 1626.) Called also Ya-
goro and Zuiyetsu. The third son
of Nagoshi Zensho. Granted the
rank of Etchiu no Shojo. Being
appointed founder to the Tokugawa
Shoguns, he repaired every year to
Yedo. Metal-founder.

Izamiya. (1765-1800). Netsuke-carver.

Jinnosuke. i7th cent. Pupil of Nago-
shi Masataka. Metal-founder.

Jirobei. i8th cent. A netsuke-carver
of Osaka. He was famous for pipe-
cases of horn, having dragons chis-
elled on them.

Jitsugyoku. igth cent. (d. 1892.) A
skilled netsuke-carver of Tokyo ;
pupil of Hojustsu.

Jiuzo. 1 8th cent. A netsuke-carver of
Wakayama, Kishiu. The Soken Kisho
says : " He is very skilful. His work
resembles that of Ogasawara Issai,
and he will doubtless improve much
as he grows older."

Jochi. 1 7th cent. A pupil of Nagoshi
Masataka (q. v.). His family name
was Hori. Metal-founder.

Jogen. There were three of this name.
All had the common name of Seiye-
mon, and lived in the i8th cent.
Metal-founders.

Jokiu, (d. 1685.) A celebrated metal-
founder. Son of Onishi Josei. He
cast tea-urns decorated with pine
sprays in relief; others in the form
of folded paper, a gourd, a rice-bag,
an old- woman's mouth, etc.

Jorin. (d. 1727.) An eminent founder.

Joriu. igth cent. (d. 1835.) A net-
suke-shi of Osaka.

Josei. 1 7th cent. Family name Onishi.
A metal-founder of Kyoto.

Josetsu. i8th cent. Sanyemon. Metal-
founder.

Joun. A pupil of Onishi Josei (q. v.).
Seiyemon. Metal-founder.

Jugyaku. igth cent. (d. 1893.) A
skilled netsuke-shi of Tokyo ; pupil
of the second Riukei.

Jukwa. (First half of igth cent.) Net-
suke-carver.

Jutei. (End of i8th cent.) Netsuke-
carver.

Kagetoshi. (igth cent.) (d. 1868). A
netsuke-carver of Kyoto. Highly
skilled in the style called Kanton-
bori (Canton carving), that is to say,
work of microscopic delicacy, as
landscapes and mythical scenes
chiselled inside a clam shell, the
whole in solid ivory. He carved a
view of Itsukushima shrine within a
space of two inches, so accurate in
detail that the sacred bell swings in
its frame.

Kaigyokusai. igth cent. (d. 1892.) A
netsuke-carver of Osaka, one of the
greatest that Japan has produced.
His name was Yasunaga Kizayemon.
At first he used the mark " Masat-
sugu," but by and by he changed
it to "Kaigyoku Masatsugu," and
finally to " Kaigyokusai." He ab-
solutely declined to carve anything
that did not take his fancy, but
when he had commenced a work,
he scarcely laid it aside until it was
finished. He gave all his carvings
to charitable purposes.

f Workers in

Kainuma. Zenzayemon.J doisonn^ en'
Kainuma. Kozay'emon.

nekichi.

Kaji. Tsunekichi. igth cent. (d. 1883.)
A worker in cloisonne enamels at
Nagoya. He was the first to pro-
duce objects of any size decorated
wholly with cloisonne enamels.

Kaji. Sataro. Present day. A worker
in cloisonne enamel, grandson of
Kaji Tsunekichi. He adopts the
Chinese style.

Kamata. Sadakuni. A worker in cloi-
sonne enamels ; pupil of Kaji Tsune-
kichi.

Kamaya. Higo. i8th cent. A great
netsuke-carver of Osaka. He was

ARTIST ARTIZ ANS

originally a maker of peep-show
boxes, but afterwards devoted him-
self to carving artificial teeth and
netsuke.

Kame. 1 7th cent. Called Kame-jo (the
woman Kame). A skilled bronze-
caster of Nagasaki.

Kameyama. Josetsu. Present day. One
of the best wood-carvers of Osaka;
pupil of Kyoyen (V. Morikawa).
Kanaya. Gorosaburo. 1 7th cent. Set-
tled in Kyoto in 1625, and soon
acquired an unrivalled reputation for
skill, not only in casting and chisel-
ling bronzes, but also for patina,
called Gorosa-iro (Gorosa color).
There have been ten generations of
the Kanaya family, all called Gorosa-
buro. They are distinguished only
by their posthumous names. The
following is the list : —

Gorosaburo (i). (d. 1660.) Posthu-
mous name, Doyen.

Gorosaburo (2). (d. 1716.) Posthu-
mous name, Nichizui.

Gorosaburo (3). (d. 1779.) Posthu-
mous name, Sokuyen.

Gorosaburo (4). (d. 1772.) Posthu-
mous name, Enshin.

Gorosaburo (5). (d. 1817.) Posthu-
mous name, Ichiryo.

Gorosaburo (6). (d. 1825.) Posthu-
mous name, Soyen.

Gorosaburo (7). (d. 1848.) Posthu-
mous name, Ichijo.

Gorosaburo (8). (d. 1873.) Posthu-
mous name, Nichiyen.

Gorosaburo (9). (d. 1889.) Posthu-
mous name, Ryoki. This was one
of the greatest of the family. He
enriched his country with many
beautiful works.

Gorosaburo (10). Present time.
Kanchi. Miyazaki. (d. 1728.) Hiko-
kuro and Naoyoshi. Metal-founder.
Kanchi. Miyazaki. (d. 1773.) Nao-
nobu Shoshin. Known in Kaga,
where he worked, as " Zeni-ya Kan-
chi" (Kanchi, the coiner). A great
metal-founder.

Kanchi. I7th and i8th cent. Family
name, Miyasaki, and personal name,
Hikosaburo. Called also, Giichi,
and generally spoken of as Niudo
Kanchi. (d. 1712.) Said to have
been a pupil of Nagoshi Sansho,
but as the latter died in 1638, the
statement is apocryphal. Worked

in Kaga. A celebrated metal-
founder.

Kaneda. Kanejiro. Present day. An
ivory-carver of Tokyo. Some re-
markably large works have been
turned out in his atelier, notably
ivory eagles, measuring 5 feet across
the wings. The heads of these
birds were chiselled by Ishikawa
Mitsuaki (q. v.). Kaneda's artizans
have all been trained by Ishikawa or
Shimamura.

Kanjuro. i8th cent. A netsuke-carver
of Osaka. The Soken Kisho says : —
" He carved human figures having
the faces and limbs of ivory and the
costume, etc., in ebony.

Karamono-ya. Kiubyoye. i8th cent.
A netsuke-carver of Sakai, in Izumi.
The Soken Kisho says : " This artist
was by profession a bronze-founder
(Karamono-ya). His netsukes are
of bronze, and generally take the
form of the Kuwara-netsuke (vide
note under Riusa's name) orsuigara-
ake, " pipe-ash-holder," (vide note
under Toshinaga's name).

Kashiu. i8th cent. The Soken Kisho
says : " Nothing is known of this
artist beyond the fact that the above
ideographs, supposed to represent
his name, are engraved on some fine
.netsuke."

KatO. Tamejuro. A worker in cloi-
sonne enamels ; pupil of Kato Ya-
subiyoye.

Kato. Heishichi. A worker in cloi-
sonne enamels ; pupil of Kato Ya-
subiyoye.

Kato. Yasubiyoye. A worker in cloi-
sonne enamels ; pupil of Kaji Tsu-
nekichi.

Kawai. Yoritake. iSlh cent. A net-
suke-carver of Kyoto. The Soken
Kisho says : " He was a sculptor of
idols by profession. His netsuke
are exceedingly clever and well-fin-
ished, and always show some pecul-
iarity of style. He may be classed
as an artist of special originality, and
his works will certainly increase in
value as years go by.

Kazaoka. Renyemon. A worker in
cloisonne enamels ; pupil of Kaji
Tsunekichi.

Kempaku. (d. 1820.) Joyetsu. Metal-
founder.

Kensai. igth cent. (d. 1592.) A net-

ARTIST ARTIZANS

suke-carver of Nagoya; pupil of
Masakazu.

Kichibiyoye. i8th cent. A netsuke-
carver.

Kikugawa. Masamitsu. Present day.
A skilled ivory-carver of Tokyo.

Kimura. Heiji. Vide Toun.

Kimura. Yokichi. Worker in cloisonne
enamels; pupil of Hara Fujio.

Kobayashi. Shokei. Present day. A
netsuke-carver of Nagoya ; pupil of
Masakazu.

Kodani. igth cent. (d. 1865.) A net-
suke-shi of Osaka.

Kohosai. 1 9th cent. (d. 1882.) A net-
suke-carver of Osaka ; pupil of Mit-
suhiro.

Kojiro. (d. 1778.) Metal-founder.

Kujutsu. i gth cent. (d. 1890.) A
skilled netsuke-shi of Tokyo; pupil
of Hojutsu.

Kokei. Nine generations of this family
lived and worked in Yedo, where
they were regarded as highly skilled
busshi. The Yedo family, a branch
of the Nara Kohei, goes back to the
middle of the i7th century. Its
records are obscure, but the repre-
sentatives are said to have borne the
names KShei and Zenkei in alternate
generations. Several of them had
the art rank of Hokyo. The ninth
representative was the teacher of
Hozan and H5un.

Komin. igthcent. (1865.) A netsuke-
shi of Osaka.

Konoki. Tokutaro. Present day. Wood-
carver in the style of Yamamoto
Kisaburo (q.v.) ; the inventor of a
species of very durable lacquer for
covering sculptures. Works in To-
kyo.

Koyoken. Yoshinaga. i8th cent. A
netsuke-carver of Kyoto.

KSzui. 1 7th cent. Pupil of Nogoshi
Masataka. Metal-founder.

Kuhei. 1 7th cent. Family name Nish-
imura, and commonly called lyehisa.
A pupil of Jomi (Nagoya Sansho).

Kuribara. Keisai. igth cent. (d. 1868.)
A skilled bronze-caster of Yedo.

Kurobei. i8th cent. A netsuke-carver.
The Soken Kisho says : " He lived in
Nagamachi, Osaka, and produced
colored netsuke, imitating the glyptic
style of Shuzan, to whom, however,
he was much inferior."

Kuwamura. Tsunejiro. Worker in

cloisonne enamels; pupil of Hara
Fujio.

Maizono. Genwo. igth cent. (d. 1870.)
A worker in cloisonne enamels of
Kanazawa (in Kaga). Celebrated
for his enamels in the Chinese style.

Manjiya. Hisayasu. 1 7th and 1 8th cent.
A skilled wood-carver of Toyama.
The successive representatives of
this family followed the profession
of wood-sculptors until modern times.

Masaharu. (d. 1880.) Yagoro. Metal-
founder.

Masakazu. igth cent. (d. 1885.) A
netsuke-carver of Nagoya; highly
skilled.

Masakira. (d. 1828.) Kemmei or Ip-
pusan. Metal-founder.

Masamichi. (d. 1762.) Yagoro. Metal-
founder.

Masanao. i8th cent. A netsuke-carver
of Kyoto. The Soken Kisho says :
" His skill in carving was great. He
worked in both ivory and wood, and
his productions are much prized."

Masanobu. igth cent. Netsuke-carver.
Kyoto.

Masataka. (d. 1851.) Gonjiro and Ya-
goro. Metal-founder.

Masatoshi. i9th cent. (d. 1880.) A
netsuke-carver of Nagoya.

Masatsugu. Present day. A netsuke-
carver of Osaka ; grandson of Kai-
gyokusai.

Masatsune. igth cent. (d. 1846.) A
celebrated bronze-caster of Yedo.

Masayoshi. (d. 1865.) Yagoro. Met-
al-founder.

Masayoshi. igth cent. (d. 1859.) A
netsuke-shi of Osaka.

Masayoshi. (d. 1746.) Yagoro. Met-
al-founder.

Masayuki. igth cent. (d. 1894.) A
netsuke-carver of Osaka ; pupil of
Kaigyokusai.

Matsuda. Ry5cho. i gth cent. Netsuke-
carver of Takayama is Hida.

Matayemon. i8th cent. A netsuke-
carver of Kishiu. The Soken Kisho
says : " He had skill of a very high
order, and even now (1781), when
good netsuke are found, dealers are
fond of attributing them to Mataye-
mon of Kishiu.

Matsumoto. Kisaburo. (d. 1890.) A
wood-carver of remarkable force ;
originator of the natural school (vide
text).

ARTIST ARTIZANS

Matsumoto. Ryozan. igth cent. (d.
1860.) Called also Kimbei ; con-
temporary of Houn (q. v.). Wood-
carver. Carved the figure of Fudo
at Naruta (hence received the name
of " Fudo Kimbei " ), and the figures
of 500 Rishi in the Naruta temple.

Meikei. First half of igth cent. Net-
suke-carver.

Miao. Yeisuke. Present day. A bronze-
founder of Yokohama.

Michimasa. (d. 1690.) Yagoro. Metal-
founder.

Minko. There were three netsuke-shi of
this name. The first was a contem-
porary of Miwa, and is separately
noticed. The second, a woman,
worked in the Tempo era (1830-43),
and the third, Tsunohan Minko, was
a great sculptor, who died about the
year 1850.

Minko. 1 8th cent. A netsuke-carver
of Tsu in Ise. The Soken Kisho
says : "His skill in wood-carving is
very remarkable, especially in the
production of ingenious and interest-
ing figures. For example, he will
carve a Daruma with eyes that turn
in the head. His works are much
liked, and his skill may be inferred
from the fact that though he is still
(1781) living, there are many imita-
tions of his netsuke."

Mitsubashi. Riuun. igth cent. (d.
1897.) A wood-carver of Tokyo,
highly skilled in chiselling designs in
medium relief. Much of his work
was done for bronze-casters, so that
few specimens remain.

Mitsuharu. i8th cent. A netsuke-car-
ver of Kyoto. " Several fine netsuke
bear his name." — Soken Kisho.

Mitsuhiro. igth cent. (d. 1865.) A
netsuke-carver of Osaka; one of the
greatest experts of the century. He
could chisel ideographs as though
they were traced by a great penman.

Miwa. 1 8th cent. A celebrated net-
suke-carver. The Soken Kisho says :
" The other names of this artist are
unknown. He lived and worked at
Sekiguchi, in the street called Suido-
machi, in Yedo (Tokyo). His skill
was of the highest, and he specially
distinguished himself in carving such
figures as kodomo shishi-asobi (chil-
dren masquerading as Dogs of Fo),
take-ryoshi (catchers of cuttle-fish),

etc. His netsuke were all of uncol-
oured cherry wood, and the holes
through which the cord passed were
lined with horn, stained light green.
He did not work in ivory."

N.B. Miwa is one of the names with
which venders of bric-a-brac are wont to con-
jure. To account for the very considerable
number of " Miwa "netsuke offered by them
for sale, they have devised a legend indicat-
ing that several generations of the Miwa
family followed the profession of netsuke-
carver, and they do not hesitate to assign to
the chisel of "Miwa the First," netsukes
elaborately coloured and even lacquered,
though the author of the Soken Kisho explic-
itly notes that Miwa's work was entirely in
uncoloured cherry wood. Some well known
European writers on Japanese art, failing to
notice this point have been betrayed into
obviously false identifications.

Miyao. Kyosei. Present day. Ivory-
carver of Tokyo.

Miyazaka. Hakuryu. First half of 1 9th
cent. Netsuke-carver.

Miyochin. Yoshihisa. i7th cent. (d.
1664.) Common name Yazayemon.
A celebrated armourer, kinzoku-shi
and chiseller of sword-furniture. A
son of Miyochin Munehisa. Origi-
nally he worked at Kamakura, but
subsequently moved to Yuki (Shim-
otsuke province), and ultimately took
up his abode at Fukui in Yechizen.
A great expert.

Miyochin. Yoshihisa. 1 7th cent. (Sec-
ond of that name.) (d. 1675.) The
most celebrated of the Miyochin
masters for works outside the range
of armour and sword-furniture. He
forged dragons, craw-fish, and crabs
with universal joints, birds with mov-
able plumage, and other objects of
iron showing extraordinary skill.
The maker of an iron eagle now in
the South Kensington Museum.
This eagle was originally in the pos-
session of the Matsudaira family
(feudal chief of Yechizen), where
some masterpieces by the same ex-
pert are still preserved. Miyochin
Yoshihisa's methods of manufacture
were carried on by a son and grand-
son of the same narne, the former of
whom died in 1680, the latter in
1732.

Miyogaya. Seishichi. iSth cent. A
netsuke-carver, of whom the Soken
Kisho says : " He lived near the
temple Nishi-hongwan-ji in Bingo-
machi, Osaka. He was by profession

ARTIST ARTIZ ANS

a carver of ventilating panels (ram-
ma), but he also excelled in produc-
ing elaborately chiselled netsuke.
His carvings are never coloured or
of ivory."

Mori no Koriu. Present day. Carver in
ivory of Tokyo.

Mori. Yasokichi. Worker in cloisonne
enamels ; pupil of Kara Fujio.

Morikawa. TSyen. igth cent. (d.
1892.) A highly skilled wood-carver
of Nara and Kyoto.

Morikawa. Kyoyen. iQth cent. (d.
1 890.) A highly skilled wood-carver
of Osaka ; son of Morikawa Toyen,
but died before his father.

Nagai. Rantei. igth cent. (d. 1853.)
A netsuke-carver of Kyoto, originally
a Samurai of Unshiu. It is related
that being asked by the Court to
chisel a thousand monkeys on a wal-
nut, he finished the work in ten
years, and the officials appointed to
receive it had to put dots of red ink
on the monkeys in order to count
them. He received the art title of
Hokkyo and a present of 30 riyo.
He is said to have been a very proud
man. If the slightest fault was
found with his work, he refused to
deliver the specimen. When he re-
ceived the price, he spent it at once
on sake.

Nogami. Yataro. Present day. A
skilled bronze-caster of Tokyo ; art
name, Riuki.

Nagamichi. igth cent. (d. 1855.) A
netsuke-shi of Osaka.

Nagao. Taichiro. The Soken Kisho
says : " This artist was a Samurai of
Wakayama in the province of Kishiu.
He studied carving under Ogasawara
Issai (mentioned as the best liv-
ing netsuke-carver, of the era when
the Soken Kisho was written). His
works are clearly chiselled and elab-
orate, almost equal to those of his
master."

Nagoya. Shichirozayemon. i3th cent.
Metal-founder. (Second son of the
Hojo Vicegerent Yoshitoki. Had
the rank of Shikibu-no-jo and was
also called Asataki.)

Nagoya. Yashichiro. (d. 1471.) There
were three of this name, but nothing
is known of the two first. Yashichiro
cast tea-utensils for the Ashikaga
Shogun Yoshimasa, and was ap-

pointed founder of bronze and iron
to the Shoguns, the Imperial Court,
and the eight princes of Ise.
Nagoya. Yashichiro. i6th cent. Chu-

ami. Metal-founder.
Nagoya. Yashichiro. (d. 1535.) Metal-
founder.

Nagoya. Yashichiro. (d. 1 593.) Made
tea-utensils for Ota Nobunaga, and
received a pension of 3,000 koku of
rice. Metal-founder. Art name,
Zensho.

Nagoya. Yagoro. (d. 1600.) Metal-
founder.
Nagoya. Yashichiro. (d. 1606.) Art

name, Joyu. Metal-founder.
Nagoya. Yashichiro. (d. 1619.) Art
name, Zenshi. Metal-founder. Very
celebrated.

Nagoya. Yayemon. (d. 1638.) Art
name, Sansho. Called also Jomi,
and distinguished as " Ko Jomi " (the
elder Jomi). Cast a bell for the
temple of Daibutsu at Nara, and
received the rank of Echizen no
Sh5jo, being named metal-founder
to the Tokugawa Shoguns.
Nagoya. Yayemon. (d. 1639.) Masa-

taka. A great metal -founder.
Nagoya. Yayemon. (d. 1708.) Masa-

nori and Jomi. Metal-founder.
Nagoya. Yayemon. (d. 1722.) Masa-
haru and Santen Jomi. A great
metal-founder.
Nagoya. Yayemon. (d. 1759.) Masa-

mitsu and Jomi. Metal -founder.
Nagoya. Yayemon. (d. 1784.) Masa-

naga. Metal-founder.
Nagoya. Yayemon. (d. 1800.) Mas-

aoki and Jomi. Metal -founder.
Nagoya. Masanobu. (d. 1820.) Metal-
founder.

Nagoya. Yashichiro. (d. 1674.) Younger
brother of Masataka. Metal-foun-
der.

Nakao. Sotei. igth cent. (d. 1835.)
A metal-caster of Osaka. His son
continued the work. The family
produced several artizans, as Nabeya
Chobei, Kihan, Kamacho, etc., and
all used the mark Nakao Sotei.
These bronzes were the first exported
from Japan in modern times.
Nakatani. Toyokichi. Present day. A
skilled wood-carver of Osaka. Art
name, Shogo. Son of Nakatani
Seisuke.
Nakatani. Seisuke. igth cent. (d.

ARTIST ARTIZANS

1870.) A wood-carver of Hiroshima.
Art name, Shisetsu.

Nakaya. Jiyemon. Yasuteru. 1 6th and
1 7th cent. (d. 1623.) Called also,
Shoyeki. Received art title of Tenka
Ichi, and rank of Dewa no Daijo
from the Taiko, who further exempted
the Nakaya family from all taxes.
This artist, originally an armourer, is
said to have been the first to orna-
ment bronzes with flowers, birds,
figures, etc., in relief. He was asso-
ciated with Nagoya Sansho in the
casting of the Daibutsu bell at Nara.

Nakaya. Jiyemon. Shigetomo. i7th
cent, (early). Joyeki. Had rank of
Dewa no Daijo, and enjoyed ex-
emption from taxation. Metal-
founder.

Nakaya. Jiyemon. Yasuie. I7th cent,
(early). Received art title of Tenka
Ichi and had rank of Dewa no Daijo.
Was also known as Somai-boin, and
on gongs cast by him the mark
" Tenka Ichi SSmai " is found.
Metal-founder. Called also Joyeki.

Nakaya Jiyemon. lyetsugu. 1 7th cent.
Succeeded to headship of Nakaya
family in 1635. Had rank of Hitachi
no Daijo. Cast bronze utensils, etc.,
for the mausoleum of lyemitsu
(1651), and a representation of the
death of Buddha for the Koya temple.
Joyeki.

Nakaya Kuroyemon Muneakira. i7th
cent. Succeeded to headship of
Nakaya family in 1 663. Cast bronzes
for the mausoleum of lyetsuna
(1680), and produced many censers,
alcove ornaments, figures, etc. One
of the most skilled casters of the
1 7th century. Had rank of Dewa
no Daijo. Called also Joyeki.

Nakaya. Kichi-no-jo. Akisada. i7th
and 1 8th cent. Succeeded to head-
ship of Nakaya family in 1701, and
had rank of Dewa no Daijo. Cast
bronzes for mausoleum of Tsuna-
yoshi (1709), and made many bronzes
for temples of the Shingon sect.
Joyeki.

Nakaya Sanyemon. Yasuakira. i8th
cent. Cast bronzes for mausoleum
of lyetsugu (1716), and for the
temple Kobuku-ji, as well as many
Buddhas and images. Joyeki.

Nakaya Kameyemon. Yasusada. i8th
cent. Cast all the bronze utensils

for the Ise Dai-jin-gu in 1769, and
many alcove ornaments, flower- vases,
etc. Joyeki.

Nakaya Kameyemon. Yasumune. i8th
cent. Cast bronze vessels for mau-
soleum of lyemoto (1779), and for
the mausoleum of lyeharu (1786).
Also founded bronzes for the Ise
Dai-jin-gu in 1 789. Joyeki.

Nakaya Kameyemon. Yasunari. igth
cent. Received rank of Ise no Daijo
in 1851. Employed by the Toku-
gawa Shoguns to cast bronzes for
the temple Senyu-ji in 1813. Cast
bronzes for the mausoleum of lye-
nari(i84i). Cast the large standard-
lantern for the Daishi-do at Kama-
kura in 1840 ; also that which stands
on Chikubu-shima in Lake Omi, and
that for Kitano Temman-gu ; also
the bronze caps for the balustrades
of the Haiden of Inari-jinja, the
utensils for Yokoku-ji in Yanagitani,
and many bronze cisterns, images,
etc. Received the art title of Hokyo
in 1847. Joyeki.

Nakaya Kameyemon. Yasutomo. igth
cent. Received the rank of Yamata
no Daijo in 1863. Made (1848-53)
altar bronzes for Komiyo-ji, standard-
lamp for Kitano Temman-gu, effigy
of Ohito-nushi for Yokoku-ji ; image
of Kobo Daishi for To-ji (in Kyoto),
many bronze sotoba, images, etc.
Called also Joyeki.

Nakaya Wasuke. Yasuyuki. (d. 1847.)
Worked with his father, Nakaya
Yasuyuki. Metal-founder. Called
also Joyeki.

Nakaya Kameyemon. Yasuharu. Pres-
ent representative of the Nakaya
family, but has changed his family
name to Hasegawa. Works in
Kyoto, and has cast several large
temple images (12 feet high) of
Shaka, Fudo, etc. Called also
Joyeki.

Nakayama. Yamato. i8th cent. A
netsuke-carver of Yedo. The Soken
Kisko says : " This woman was
celebrated for her remarkable skill
in engraving with the point of the
burin extraordinarily minute designs
of shishi or dragons upon kuwara-
netsuke (vide Ruisa) of ivory."

Nando. Matashiro. igth cent. (d.
1860.) A netsuke (wood) carver of
Kanazawa in Kaga.

ARTIST ARTIZ ANS

Naotatsu. Miyazaki. (d. 1799.) Metal-
founder. Hikokuro.

Naotomo. Miyazaki. (d. 1799.) Metal-
founder. Hikokuro.

Naoyuki. Miyazaki. (d. 1786.) Metal-
founder. Hikokuro.

Negoro. Sokiu. iSthcent. A netsuke-
carver. The Soken Kisho says :
" He lived in Kyomachi, Osaka.
He showed skill in the making of
artificial teeth, and was also an
expert netsuke-carver."

Negishi. Suketaro. Present day. A
skilled carver of Kyoto, who works
in ivory and wood.

Nishimura. Donin. 1 7th cent. Father
of the celebrated Kuhei lyehisa.
Metal-founder.

Ogasawara. Issai. The Soken Kisho
says : " A native of the province of
Kishiu, he is the master, par excel-
lence, of the present day (1781), and
although he is still alive, his -works
are not easy to procure. He carves
in ivory, walrus ivory, etc., so deli-
cately and skilfully that his achieve-
ments seem beyond human capacity.

Ogino. Shomin. i8th and igth cent.
(d. 1830.) A great wood-carver of
Kyoto. A Samurai who never
studied carving under any teacher.
In cooperation with Ishikawa Mit-
suaki he carved the Dewa Kings for
the temple of Myobu. He lost the
use of his eyes, and was tended until
his death by Shibayama Soichi.

Ogura. Sojiro. Present day. A mod-
eller of likeness effigies in plaster of
Paris for the use of bronze-casters
and metal-sculptors.

Ogura. Sojiro. Present day. A sculp-
tor in European style, who has pro-
duced some fine works in plaster of
Paris and marble.

Okano. Shoju. Present day. Carver
in wood and ivory of Tokyo. Called
also Yasunori, and art name, Bunkei.
Son of Yamada Koretaka.

Okatomo. i8th cent. A netsuke-carver
of Kyoto.

Okazaki. Sessei. Present day. A cel-
ebrated bronze-founder of Tokyo.
Renowned for large castings. (See
text.)

Omiya. Kahei. 1 8th cent. A netsuke-
carver of Osaka.

Onishi. Josei. (d. 1682.) Gorozayemon
and Muranaga. He worked in com-

pany with lyemasa (q. v.). A great
metal-founder.

Ono. Ryomin. igth cent. (d. 1875.)
A great netsuke-shi of Tokyo ; pupil
of Rakumin ; carved chiefly in wood.

Ono. Hakujitsu. Present day. Ivory-
carver of Tokyo.

Onoura. Kichigoro. igth cent. (d.
1 880.) A busshi of Tokyo ; teacher
of Mitsuboshi Riuun.

Oshima. Katsujiro. Present day. A
skilled bronze-caster of Tokyo ; art
name, Joun.

Oshima. Yasutaro. Present day. A
skilled bronze-caster of Tokyo ; art
name, Shokaku. Yasutaro and his
brother Oshima Katsujiro established
the Sanseisha (firm name) in Tokyo,
where, between 1873 an<^ J879> some
of the finest bronzes ever produced
in Japan were turned out.

Ota. Kihichi. A worker in cloisonne
enamels ; pupil of Hayashi Shogoro.

Otsuki. Shunzo. A worker in cloi-
sonne enamels ; pupil of Isaburo.

Rakumin. igth cent. (d. 1865). A
great netsuke-shi of Tokyo. Not
originally a carver, but a curio-dealer,
he was induced to try sculpture for
the purpose of imitating the fine
netsuke that passed through his
hands. He produced some excel-
lent imitations of Miwa's netsuke.

Rakushiku. First half of igth cent.
Netsuke-carver.

Rammei. igth cent. A netsuke-carver
of Kyoto ; pupil of Nagai Rantei.

Rankwa. igth cent. A netsuke-carver
of Kyoto ; pupil of Nagai Rantei.

Ransen. i9th cent. A netsuke-carver
of Kyoto ; pupil of Nagai Rantei.

Ranshi. igth cent. A netsuke-carver
of Kyoto ; pupil of Nagai Rantei.

Riujo. Present day. A skilled wood-
carver ; pupil of Riumin.

Riukei. There were three netsuke-shi
of this name ; the first woiked from
1804 to 1830; the second, from 1830
to 1850; the third died in 1885.

Riumin. igth cent. A great netsuke-
carver of Kyoto.

Riumondo. Beginning of igth cent.
Metal-founder of Kyoto.

Riusa. A netsuke-carver of Yedo. The
Soken Kisho says : " He was a turner
by profession, and he showed re-
markable skill in making Kuwara-
netsuke, which were lathe-turned, and

ARTIST ARTIZANS

particularly suitable for gold lacquer
inro, because the lacquer received no
injury from contact with the net-
suke."

N.B. The term Kuivara-netsuke signifies
round netsuke with smooth edges, commonly
known in Japan as manj u-netsuke , because
of the resemblance its shape bears to a rice-
dumpling ( man] u). Such netsuke are also
called riusa, after the name of their origi-
nator.

Sadanosuke. (d. 1795.) Metal-founder.

Sahei. i6th cent. Celebrated for cast-
ing tea-urns having " brush-mark "
decoration. Metal-founder.

Saihojutsu. First half of igth cent.
Netsuke-carver.

Sakata. Chikuyen. "Present time. A
wood-carver of Osaka ; pupil of
Morikawa KySyen. Celebrated for
carvings of sparrows.

Sakunai. Tsunejiro. A worker in cloi-
sonne enamels ; pupil of Isaburo.

Sanehisa. (d. 1603.) Yojiro. Second
son of Nagoya Yashichiro (Zensho).
In 1584 cast an image of Buddha
1 6 ft. high for the Dai-butsu temple
in Kyoto. Cast many celebrated
tea-urns. Metal-founder.

Sanko. igth cent. (d. 1860.) A net-
suke-shi of Osaka.

Sanko. i8th cent. A netsuke-carver of
Osaka. The Soken Kisho says :
" His technical skill as a carver was
great, and he was a faithful copyist,
but unfortunately his works are de-
ficient in tone."

Satake. Sohichi. iSth cent. A net-
suke-carver of Osaka. The Soken
Kisho says : " An architectural sculp-
tor by profession, he was also very
skilled in carving netsuke, in ivory
and in wood, both coloured and
plain.

Sano. Koichi. Present day. Ivory-
carver of Tokyo.

Sato. To. Present day. Ivory-carver
of Tokyo.

Sato. Hirashi. ijth cent. Pupil of
Nagoshi Masataka. Metal-founder.

Sawaoka. Chiuhei. igthcent. (d. 1836.)
A wood-carver of Kanazawa.

Seibei. i8th cent. A netsuke-carver
of Kyoto. The Soken Kisho says :
" His skill was so great that the
epithet Seibei-bori (Seibei carving)
came to be applied to all glyptic
work of beauty and refinement,
whether from his or other hands.

Many imitations of his netsuke are
now (1781) to be found.
Seimin. Present day. An ivory-carver
of Tokyo ; pupil of Rakumin. Up
to 1876 he carved netsuke only, but
thereafter he produced the small
alcove ornaments which have found
so much favour with foreign collec-
tors. Among his netsuke the repre-
sentations of frogs were so good
that people called him " Kayeru
Seimin " (frog Seimin).
Seimin. iSth and igth cent. (b. 1769,
d. 1840). A celebrated bronze-caster
of Yedo, specially skilled in pro-
ducing the golden-yellow bronze
called " Sentoku."

Sekku. igth cent. (d. 1890.) Art
name of a wood-carver of Mikuni;
son of Shima Sessei.

Shibata. Ichirobei. iSth cent. A net-
suke-carver of Osaka.
Shibayama. Saichi. igth cent. A

skilled wood-carver of Kyoto.
Shiho. Ampei. iSth cent. (d. 1842.)
A highly skilled metal-caster who
worked for many years in Kaga.
Art name, Ryumondo.
Shikida. Otajiro. Present day. A
carver of netsuke and alcove orna-
ments in Kyoto. Highly skilled.
Shima. Sessei. igth cent. (d. 1888.)
A wood-carver of Mikuni, celebrated
for minute work. Had the art rank
of Hokkyo.

Shimamura. Ryomin. igth cent. (d.
1896.) A skilled ivory-carver of
Tokyo.
Shimamura. Homei. Present day.

Ivory-carver of Tokyo.
Shimizu. Tahei. i7th cent. Pupil of

Nagoya Masataka. Metal-founder.
Shinkai. Taketaro. Present day. A
wood-carver of Tokyo, who works in
the modern style.
Shinshi. Sairyukei. (First half of igth

cent.) Netsuke-carver.
Shiugetsu. iSth cent. A netsuke-
carver of Yedo. Had the art title of
Hogen. The Soken Kisho says :
" A skilled pictorial artist, he has
received the title of ' HSgen ' in
recognition of his talents. He also
carves netsuke which are of great
excellence."

N.B. This Shiugetsu is not to be con-
founded with the celebrated pupil of Sesshiu,
who flourished in the i6th cent.

ARTIST ARTIZANS

Shiukai. Present day. Wood-carver of
Tokyo. (Vide Yamazaki.)

Shiura. Itataro. Present day. Wood
and ivory carver of Tokyo.

Shokiusai. igth cent. (d. 1860.) A
skilled netsuke-shi, much of whose
work has gone abroad, as it was
originally produced for low prices.

Shoko. Present day. A netsuke-carver
of Takayama ; pupil of Sukeyuki.

Shomin. Vide Unno Shomin.

Shominsai. End of i8th cent. Net-
suke-carver.

Shosai. Hidemasa. 1 9th cent. (d. 1875.)
A netsuke-shi of Yedo (Tokyo).

Shotoku. 6th and 7th cent. Gen-
erally spoken of as Shotoku Taishi
(Prince Shotoku). Said to have
been a skilful wood-sculptor.

Shoun. Present day. An expert sculp-
tor of wood or ivory alcove orna-
ments in Kyoto.

Shuzan. i8th cent. The first recorded
carver of netsuke ; had the art title
of Hogen, on account of his skill as
a painter. He was, in fact, the
painter Mitsuoki. (Vide text.)

Sobei. 1 8th cent. A younger son of
Nagoya Santen. (q-v.) Metal-
founder. His family name was
Shimoma, and his personal name
Masakatsu.

Sobei. 1 8th cent. Son of above. Art
name, Mijo. Celebrated for the
manufacture of urns in the shape
of tortoises, demons, cicada, etc.
Metal-founder.

Sobei. 1 8th cent. Art name, Misen.
Son of Sobei Mijo. Jakiu. Metal-
founder.

Sokwa. Heishiro. i8th cent. A net-
suke-carver of Osaka. The Soken
Kisho says : " By profession an archi-
tectural carver, he derived his soubri-
quet, Sokwa (plants and flowers),
from the remarkable ability he dis-
played in chiselling leaves, blossoms,
etc. He was an adept carver of net-
suke, but his works are very rare."

Somada. Nobuyoshi. i7th and i8th
cent. A wood-carver who orna-
mented his work with a delicate
inlaying of mother-of-pearl, and
was consequently known as Aogai
(Mother of pearl) no Somada.

Somin. i9th cent. A great bronze-
caster of Tokyo, pupil of Teijo and
Seimin. Somin is his art name.

Suginaga. Chikayuki. (d. 1882.) Net-
suke-carver of Tokyo. His work
is called Asakusa-ningyo as he lived
at Asakusa in Tokyo.

Sukenaga. igth cent. (d. 1855.) A
skilled netsuke-carver of Takayama.

Sukeyuki. igth cent. (d. 1885). A
netsuke-carver of Takayama, son of
Sukenaga.

Suwara. Seizayemon. i8th cent. (d.
1783.) A bronze-caster of Yedo.

Suwara. Hatsugoro. i8th and i9th
cent. A bronze-caster of Yedo.

Suwara. Matag

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